Enter the Foreign
by Viari
Summary: Just before his fateful turn to the dark side, Anakin Skywalker is transported 70 years into the future, where he meets the ragtag remainder of the Jedi Order and becomes engulfed in their struggle against the new Sith Empire. AU, 51 ABY.
1. Prologue

**Enter the Foreign**

.

**Prologue**

* * *

"_You do know, don't you? If the Jedi destroy me, any chance of her saving her will be lost."_

It was strange that the voice echoing in his thoughts, the one that had provided comfort for thirteen years in the same patient, rich tone, should now be a harbinger of his beloved's doom. The irony was bitter, enough to make Anakin Skywalker crush the fingers of both his flesh and bionic hands together in an effort to draw blood. He let out a heavy breath and separated his hands. They were clean, of course. They were always clean, no matter how wretched he felt on the inside.

_Padmé…_

When he'd spoken his vows by the lake on Naboo, he had never imagined that he might lose her like this. He had never imagined losing her at all. In the deep places of his heart, he had refused to consider death a possibility.

"_The dark side is a pathway to many abilities…"_

In an instant the shadows had been swept away, the secrets of the mysterious Darth Sidious had been laid bare, and Anakin had hesitated. Lightsaber drawn, close enough to kill, to wipe out evil forever, to end the war and make the galaxy safe for his family, and he had _hesitated_.

Jedi weren't supposed to hate, but Anakin did. He hated the very idea of the Sith, loathed their existence to his core. Of all the oaths he'd sworn upon being Knighted, that was the secret one he'd promised never to break. The Republic would continue to bicker, and the Jedi Order would be indecisive; but the Sith – who had lived in shadow for a millennia – were preparing for the final push, the one that would end in galactic domination. That would end in the deaths of everyone Anakin held dear.

He hated Sidious, yes, but he had never hated Palpatine. How could he? The Chancellor had watched over him ever since he was a boy. He had talked to him when no one else seemed to understand. What if the Jedi were wrong? What if Palpatine was a Sith Lord… and a good man?

That would mean the dark side was an answer to his troubles. The lure was undeniable, and his reasons would be nobler than those of his predecessors.

_I can't_, he pleaded with himself. _Not without losing my soul. _

He had taken an oath to the Force, to the light.

To Padmé.

He gasped as he felt her across the distance between the Jedi Temple and 500 Republica. In his mind's eye he could see her rising from the couch, going to the window, as if she could feel his desperation. He went to the transparisteel that separated him from the sweeping majesty of Coruscant and reached for her. He felt her love, how she worried for him, even now, with the war's end so close. He felt the faintest hint of a consciousness still-forming in its mother's womb, a consciousness that was curious and fearful and, above all, _alive_.

_I can't let them die. I can't let _her _die._

_I won't. _

The Chancellor was a Dark Lord of the Sith, the enemy of the Jedi for thousands of years. He was also Anakin's mentor, his friend… his only hope.

Though she possessed no Force-ability of her own, Anakin could feel Padmé answering the touch of his mind. She wanted him to be safe. She wanted him to come back to her. She wanted to set things right between them.

_I'm going to, Padmé. I'm going to save you, and then we'll be free._

Twin tears escaped his eyes as he turned away from the window. He brushed them away with his left hand and ran to the door, his stomach tightening in a cold knot, his heart pumping chilled blood through his body.

_I have to do it. Just this once. _

He opened the door and stepped across the threshold, feeling too late the sense of danger that flared up as something connected with his head and sent him plummeting into restless darkness.

.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

* * *

He awoke to the sound of blasters and the stink of ozone, his head throbbing. Forcing his eyelids open, he stared down the smoke-filled corridor, eyes stinging as they tried to adjust.

_Oh Force…_

What was going on? The last thing he remembered was talking to Master Windu, waiting in the Council chambers… and running out the door to stop the Jedi from arresting Chancellor Palpatine. Suddenly he knew exactly where he was and what was going on.

The Chancellor had won. The realization did nothing to ease the fear in his heart. If the Sith didn't need the help of the Chosen One in defeating four Jedi Masters and taking over the Temple, would he decide that Anakin's life wasn't worth sparing?

No, it couldn't be. Palpatine was his friend.

Anakin staggered to his feet and tried to take stock of the situation. He could feel several presences, but not enough to account for the all of the younglings.

Not nearly enough.

His heart froze as he reached out for the source of the distress that was pouring into the Force. There were no children here, none at all. Instead he felt a giant void, a mark on the fabric of the galaxy where a great many lives had been obliterated in the space of an instant. Layered over the emptiness was the frenzy of a fierce battle, probably the one that was causing the turmoil he felt. Anakin swallowed hard as he propelled himself forward, praying that whoever was behind this massacre had given the younglings quick deaths, knowing somewhere down in his gut that their blood would always be on his hands.

_I could have ended this with one swing of my lightsaber._

_What have I done?_

Another thought struck him.

_Where is Padmé? _

Fear for his wife overwhelmed his senses. He tried to touch her presence but found no trace of her. Horrified, he attempted to further his range. Nothing. It was as if the design of the Force had altered radically in the time that he'd been unconscious. The only familiar sensation was the anger, rage, and desperation permeating the air like a potent toxin. He knew that feeling well, but he'd never expected to feel it here, in the tranquil Jedi Temple.

Anakin looked behind him at the door he'd been sprawled in front of, but instead of the smooth curves of the Council chamber entrance, he saw a sharply angled durasteel door that looked as if it had been on the wrong end of a frag grenade. Twisted metal jutted out at gruesome angles, reminding Anakin of some of the worst battles of the war. Turning back to face the corridor, he realized that the layout did not match the one outside the Council's meeting place.

_What in the Corellian hells…?_

This wasn't the Temple, at least not any part he'd ever seen. But if he wasn't there, then where was he?

Blaster fire echoed along the corridor, louder than before, and without thinking Anakin drew his lightsaber and activated it with the familiar _snap-hiss_ that sent dread through enemies of the Republic. The cerulean blade lit the smoky air, faintly illuminating a long, narrow hallway. He narrowed his eyes, extending his mental perception into the hazy darkness.

The black-clad figure appeared out of nowhere, his green lightsaber blade slicing toward Anakin's neck. The young Jedi jumped back a step, surprised not so much by the presence of a saber-wielding enemy, but by the fact that he had not – and could not – sense the figure in the Force. He was real enough, his weapon a swirling pinwheel of deadly emerald energy. Anakin lunged forward, driving his blade hard into his opponent's, pushing him back with sheer strength and weight. Instead of matching Anakin's attack, the man in black did a back handspring and landed in a crouch. Anakin watched him carefully but held his position.

The figure stood slowly and pulled off his black cloth mask. It was indeed a man, and he looked to be close to Anakin's age. The Jedi's natural instinct was to assess his opponent, memorize every detail of his appearance, his stance, the way he breathed. Three years of war had branded the procedures deeply. Anakin wondered briefly, in a detached way, if he would ever be able to meet someone new without evaluating the easiest way to kill them.

The man's face was surprisingly placid. He looked like someone who knew well the life of a warrior and took every battle in stride. If he was a fellow Jedi, Anakin had never met him. Even without the sense of him in the Force, Anakin could tell he was a skilled fighter.

"If you've come to kill me," the stranger said huskily, "then do it quickly."

For an instant, Anakin remembered what he had planned to do before leaving the Council room, and a mixture of shame and apprehension washed over him. He tightened his grip on his lightsaber. "I'm not here to kill you." He was unable to hide the strain in his voice. "I'm not even sure where _here _is."

The man cocked his head to one side as if listening to something. With an expression somewhere between anxiety and annoyance, he unclipped a comlink from his belt and brought it to his lips. "Boys, we've got company," he said crisply. "Make for the rendezvous." Hooking the comlink back onto his belt, he deactivated his lightsaber and gave Anakin a mock salute with the hilt. "Gotta fly."

And then he was gone.

"Wait!" Anakin yelled after him, his voice sounding much rawer than he'd imagined it would. He had to get to Padmé, to the Chancellor, to _someone_ who could tell him what was going on. "Please," he tried again, "what is this place?"

The words came to him in a whisper of thought.

_Hell. Better known as Ossus._

Anakin sprinted forward to catch the man, emerging from the smoke to find an intersecting hallway lit by emergency lights. _This isn't possible, _he told himself. Ossus was one in a long line of planets to become embroiled in the Outer Rim Sieges, but it had been ruined thousands of years before the Separatists took hold of it. More importantly, it was on the other side of the galaxy. He couldn't possibly be there.

Turning right at the corner, he dashed down the corridor, listening for the sound of footfalls ahead. He couldn't sense the stranger in the Force, but he could hear him. A piece of cloth flapped in the air to the right, catching Anakin's attention. As he turned to look, his danger sense flared, and he whipped his lightsaber around to protect his side. A beam of red hissed to life, crashing into his blade like a vicious predator. The power behind the blow was unbelievable; Anakin had to strain every muscle to keep the lightsaber from cleaving through his neck.

"Oh, you're a strong one, aren't you?" his assailant leered. The voice was deep and distinctively male, and through the blue and red light, Anakin could see just enough to make out a face riddled with black tattoos. For a split-second, the young Jedi's heart froze.

The skin color was different, but Anakin had seen tattoos like those on another man, another Iridonian Zabrak with fire-yellow eyes that burned with hatred so great it could not be contained. The murderer of his first mentor, Qui-Gon Jinn.

Anakin remembered watching Qui-Gon burn at his funeral, a husk of a man, the life stolen from him by a force too evil to comprehend. By a Sith Lord.

_Like the man I've trusted for the last decade._

Anakin banished those thoughts from his mind and focused his attention on the saber-wielding Zabrak. As they crossed blades high in the air, Anakin shoved hard and dropped into a spinning kick. The other man leapt over Anakin's leg and angled his blade vertically, coming down for the kill. Anakin rolled away and jumped to his feet, thrusting his saber in the process. The Zabrak parried clumsily, seemingly uneasy being on the defensive.

Anakin pressed his advantage, launching a barrage of blows that the man could barely keep up with. With a violent slash of his lightsaber, Anakin sent his opponent's weapon flying through the air and slashed through his right wrist.

The Zabrak howled with rage as he dropped to his knees, staring in disbelief at the cauterized stump. "You…" he hissed, his chest heaving.

The sight of him, unarmed and vulnerable, hit Anakin at his core. Though the man before him was much younger and in better physical condition than Count Dooku had been, Anakin couldn't help noticing how similar his situation was to the one on the _Invisible Hand_ just days earlier.

_If I don't kill him, he'll come back for me. He'll find Padmé and kill her, too._

That final thought clinched it. Anakin raised his lightsaber over his head, ready to slice it through his attacker's neck and end his miserable existence.

An explosion rocked the corridor, sending Anakin into the wall with a ferocious crash. The Zabrak groaned angrily, and Anakin lost sight of him in the fire and smoke that filled the air. Somewhere in the distance a siren was blaring, and voices cried out urgently. Picking himself up of the floor, Anakin retrieved his lightsaber and began stumbling toward the sound of those voices.

"This way, hurry!"

"We're going the wrong way!"

"Elias will meet us, just move!"

At the end of the corridor, a door burst open; Anakin saw three figures silhouetted against the moonlit sky, running for a ship that was still in the process of landing. It reminded him vaguely of the YT-series of Corellian freighters with its saucer-shaped hull, but the rest of the design was alien to him. Painted black, it almost disappeared in the darkness. The hatch opened, and the three figures ran aboard.

Looking behind him, Anakin watched as the smoke began to thin. Whoever that crazed Iridonian had been, he felt sure there were more like him on this planet. One person alone couldn't have generated the level of rage and hatred that he had sensed upon waking in this place. For all he knew, the freighter was his only way offworld. Pulling his hood up over his head and shivering from something other than the cold, Anakin darted toward the ship, crawling up the side of the hatch as it began to close.

.

* * *

.

Arden Veiss trembled as she squeezed the trigger of the dorsal guns. She'd never been this close to the ruined Jedi Academy; she suspected she was one of the few who had. There was something intensely frightening about the building, about the whole planet, and she knew with certainty that she would not have agreed to this crazy mission if Captain Dagen had told them beforehand that Ossus was their destination.

She could do without the first mate's insane flying, too.

"We're clear," Elias Till shouted from the cockpit. Arden felt a rush of relief, followed by the fear that they'd escaped the planet only to be blown out of the sky by the defense fleet's turbo lasers.

As if reading her thoughts, Elias pulled up at a steep angle and let out a breath that crackled across the comm. "It's all right, Arden. They're not fast enough for the _Daybreak_."

"What about the others?"

"All aboard. Told you I could do it."

Arden tried to still her shaking hands. "I was more worried about the captain. Two teenage boys are not enough backup for a job like this."

"Kohr and Ames are plenty old enough to handle Ossus."

Arden shook her head and unbuckled herself from the guns. "Whatever you say, Elias." She climbed down the ladder and made for the hatch.

The _Daybreak _bucked as it entered hyperspace, tossing Arden against the curved corridor walls. She grappled at the air before landing hard on her rear.

"Need a hand?"

Arden frowned and looked up into the captain's brown eyes. "Glad to see you made it out okay."

"Thanks." He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to her feet. "You all right?"

"I will be once you tell me what on Ossus was so valuable that you risked the wrath of the Sith to get it."

The captain exchanged a quick glance with Kohr and Ames before pulling a datapad out of his jacket pocket. "This."

Arden placed both shaking hands on her hips and did her best to look intimidating. "You risked all our lives for a datapad?" She threw a pointed look at Kohr, who was doing his best to pretend he was invisible. "Kohr, you couldn't have cracked their database from orbit?"

Kohr looked at the captain as if seeking permission. Captain Dagen held up his hand dismissively, and the two young men at his side hurried past Arden and headed toward the galley.

Dagen watched the boys until they were out of sight. "Emperor's bones, you've got a lot to complain about, Arden," he said wryly, pocketing the datapad. "We're alive, aren't we?"

He brushed past Arden and headed for the cockpit. The young woman huffed indignantly, but she knew better than to expect straight answers from the captain. She turned on her heel and followed him.

"So what did you do?" Arden called out. "Crack into the big Sith bank account?"

There was no reply, not even the usual grunt of displeasure. Arden strode through the doorway as Captain Dagen finished whispering something to the man in the pilot's chair. They both turned to look at Arden, unable to mask the tenseness in their body language.

"Elias?" Her gaze flickered to the man in the seat, the blond-haired, powerfully built first mate who had just flown them away from Ossus. His normally cheerful brown eyes were clouded with worry. "What's wrong?"

The captain shifted his weight and patted Elias on the shoulder. "Make a few more micro jumps. I'll be back in a minute."

Elias half-rose out of the chair. "You sure you don't need help?"

Dagen offered the rare smile. "Naw, I can handle it." Then he slid out the door and disappeared down the corridor.

Arden shivered. "He still scares me a little." She glanced at Elias. "You know. Sometimes."

The first mate stood up and pulled Arden into his arms. "He's like my brother," he said matter-of-factly, "and you're not scared of _me_." She could still detect something odd beneath his jocularity.

"You two are nothing alike." She eyed Elias with approval. "But that's okay."

Elias smiled and pulled her down into the chair with him. "Help me plot these jumps." He pressed two buttons, glancing over his shoulder as he did so.

Arden had the feeling he was trying to distract her, or maybe himself, but she went along for his sake. "If you insist. Now, what exactly does this lever do?"

.

* * *

.

Anakin had never been claustrophobic, but the tight spot he'd wedged himself into was threatening to drive him insane. He knew it wasn't really the ship's hold that had him on edge. Every second he waited here was another wasted opportunity to save Padmé's life. After his encounters on Ossus – if it really was Ossus – he had been hesitant to extend his presence, lest anyone else detect him in the Force. Now it was time to come out of hiding and find out what kind of crew he was dealing with. He had to get home.

The door to the storage compartment opened without warning. Before he could react, a hand reached in and yanked hard on his robes, sending him headfirst into a pile of cargo containers. The Jedi Knight jumped to his feet and activated his lightsaber in one fluid motion. His attacker stood still, watching every movement without so much as blinking. Anakin realized, with the mildest degree of surprise, that it was the same man he'd met upon arriving on the planet.

"There's no need for your lightsaber," the stranger informed him steadily. "Just tell me why you snuck aboard my ship."

Anakin held fast to his saber with one hand and rubbed his head with the other. "I had a little trouble with the locals."

The man snorted. "I can't imagine why." In this light Anakin could see that he had jet black hair and dark brown eyes. His face was hard, and there were two jagged scar lines along the left side of his face.

Anakin pulled himself up to full height. "You said that planet was Ossus."

"Did I?"

"As I recall."

The man studied Anakin for a moment before answering. "Well, as _I_ recall, I asked you why you're on my ship, and you have yet to provide a good reason."

Anakin knew this would be the perfect time to practice some Jedi patience, but after spending three years as a commander and then a general in the Grand Army of the Republic, he had become accustomed to a certain level of respect, even from his peers. The stranger's tone reminded him too much of Master Windu's for him to ignore it.

Besides, he hadn't planned on remaining in the Jedi Order for much longer when he'd been mysteriously swept to this far corner of the galaxy. He didn't have to be patient anymore.

"Listen," he snapped, pointing at the man with his lightsaber. "I have no idea what's going on here. Maybe that planet is Ossus, maybe it isn't, but I wasn't about to spend any more time there. I needed a ship, and yours was the only one available."

The man stared at the tip of the lightsaber, his expression darkening just a little. "I told you there's no need for your weapon. Put it away and we can talk like civilized men." He turned to his left and indicated the open doorway leading out of the cargo hold. "This way." Without looking to see if Anakin would follow, he strode through the door and shut off the hold's lights.

The Jedi Knight sucked in a frustrated breath and followed. As he walked behind the man, he noticed that he was no longer wearing the lightsaber he'd wielded during their first meeting.

Curious.

The man stopped at the end of the corridor and pressed his palm to a control panel. A door slid open, revealing the vessel's cockpit. Sitting in front of the controls were a young man and a young woman, both turning to see who had just entered.

"Hey, Captain…?" the girl's words died as she caught sight of Anakin standing in the doorway.

The captain smiled tightly. "Elias, Arden, turns out we have a stowaway. This is… I'm sorry; you never told me your name."

Anakin looked back and forth between the captain and his crew. Obviously they didn't watch the Holonet much. "My name is not important," he answered, adding a nudge of Force persuasion.

The man at the controls snorted. "It is if you want anything from us."

The captain threw his companion a pointed look. "What Elias means to say is, we would love to help you. We just don't know you."

"No charity for strangers?"

The captain looked at his crew, and they all shook their heads. "Not really, no."

"Okay." Anakin reminded himself that he would need their help if he wanted to get back to Padmé. "My name is Anakin Skywalker. I'm a Jedi Knight, and I need to get to Coruscant as soon as possible."

The two men looked truly at a loss for words, but the girl let out a dry laugh. "Right, and I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi. Come on, you've got to be joking." It took her a moment to realize that no one else was laughing.

Anakin glared at her, feeling a dark chill rush through his veins. "I wasn't trying to be funny," he said icily.

The girl shrank back into her chair, fear creeping into her hazel eyes. She turned back to the control panel, avoiding further eye contact. Her reaction emboldened Anakin, and he took a step into the cockpit.

"I've told you my name. Take me to Coruscant and you'll be rewarded, I give you my word."

"Your word?" The man called Elias stood up from his seat and folded his arms across his chest. "You honestly expect us to trust the word of a man claiming to be Anakin Skywalker?"

"_Claiming_?"

"Elias," the captain interjected. "Would you plot a jump for the Heibic system?"

Elias nodded and sat back down at the controls.

"What are you doing?" Anakin asked as he watched the man's fingers dance over the panel.

The captain leaned over Elias's chair, ignoring Anakin's question. "If we don't hear from Ulin after we get there, take us to the alternate rendezvous point immediately."

"Please!" Anakin shouted, adding the weight of the Force to his plea. "I have to get to Coruscant, and you have to take me."

The girl looked over her shoulder at the captain as if she expected Anakin's words to send him into a rage. The captain cleared his throat and stared back at Anakin with the steely eyes of one who was accustomed to being in command. "There is no way in hell," he said in a quiet voice, "that I'm risking my ship and my crew to take _you_ to Coruscant."

Anakin bit the inside of his lip, a habit he'd acquired after spending too much time around Coruscanti politics. It generally prevented him from blurting out things he would regret. "You don't understand," he gritted out, eyes narrowed dangerously. "I _must_ go."

"_For your own good, stay out of this affair."_

Master Windu's words came back to him suddenly, mocking him. He tried to shake the memory from his mind, but it lingered, reminding him of why he so desperately needed to get home. His blood ran hot as he glared down at the captain. Only a criminal would feel that a trip to the Republic's capital was a risk.

He locked eyes with the captain, who was still invisible in the Force. What was he? What kind of person could disappear like that? Was it a natural phenomenon? He couldn't explain it, and that frightened him just a little.

Anakin struggled to suppress his fear and anger. He could almost hear Padmé screaming for him to help her. "I'm going to Coruscant one way or another, captain. Please don't make me use force. I don't want to hurt you or your crew."

"You see, that's where you've slipped up," the captain murmured. "Anakin Skywalker was a guardian of peace and justice, not a desperate bully who stole starships from unsuspecting spacers. You couldn't possibly be him."

Anakin stared at the crew incredulously. _These people are all crazy._

The captain smiled darkly. "And if you really were him, you could have prevented this." As he finished speaking, Anakin felt something sharp pinch his neck. He twisted around to see a tall, dark-skinned boy holding a syringe, and then everything faded as he tumbled to the deck.

.


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

* * *

"Wondered when you'd get here!"

Arden watched as Elias and Captain Dagen shook hands with the tall, thin old man who'd come out to greet them. Apparently a gifted slicer, Ulin was also their go-to man when it came to random supplies and technology. Arden liked him well enough, but he had a funny way of making her feel like she was out of the loop.

Not that she was really in the loop anyway. Captain Dagen was very private about his business. Ossus was just another example of that.

"Hello there, Arden!" Ulin said, nodding her way. "This one still treatin' you right?" He cast a wry grin at Elias.

Arden smiled. "Yeah, I've got no complaints." She walked over and looped her arm through Elias's. "Got any food here, Ulin?"

The old man grinned and ran a hand through his short gray hair. "Sure, there's some food on the _Ho'Din_. She's docked on the other side of the complex." He looked past Arden at the two boys coming down the ramp of the _Daybreak_. "Whatcha got there, boys?"

Kohr and Ames stopped and stared down at the stretcher between them. Before they could respond, Captain Dagen reached out and guided Ulin off to the side of the landing platform.

Arden frowned. "I really don't like this, Elias."

Elias shrugged. "I don't like it either, but there's not much we can do about it. We couldn't just dump him out in space."

"That's not what I meant," Arden replied impatiently.

"I don't understand." Elias glanced over at Dagen and Ulin. "You mean them?"

Arden nodded.

"They're just talking about the stowaway, that's all."

"What about that datapad he stole from the Sith? Doesn't he need Ulin to do something with it?"

"I don't know."

Arden shook her head. "Why are we stealing from the Sith?"

"We always steal from the Sith, Arden. Come on, let's go get something to eat." Elias started to pull her toward the building Ulin had emerged from. It looked like an old military bunker – appropriate, given the desolate, abandoned nature of the planet they'd landed on. Arden had never heard of the Heibic system before today, but apparently it was a place Dagen, Ulin, and even Elias knew well. She got the feeling they'd hidden out here many times.

Arden resisted Elias's pull for a moment. Yes, they frequently stole from the Sith because the Sith owned everything. Whenever they smuggled goods or robbed a weapons dealer, they were stealing from the Sith. But they'd never, _ever_, come anywhere near one of the Sith worlds. There was a difference. The mysterious Force users might have carved out an empire, but there were only a few planets they truly called home.

The forbidden worlds.

Arden had heard plenty of stories about Ossus. Enough to know that no one in their right mind would choose to venture there.

Well, she'd always had doubts about Captain Dagen's sanity.

Arden finally let Elias steer her toward the bunker. For the moment, she tried to push aside her worries and focus on the food that awaited her on the _Happy Ho'Din_. Out of the corner of her eye, though, she caught sight of Kohr and Ames carrying the stretcher with their stowaway on it, and her appetite began to fade.

_I have a bad feeling about this. _

_._

* * *

.

_The first thing he knew for certain was that he was standing on some precipice. The second thing he knew was that Padmé was screaming for help. _

"_Padmé!" he cried out, reaching into pitch darkness for something to hold onto, something to guide him back toward his wife. _

"_Anakin, help me!"_

"_Padmé!" he screamed. "Padmé!"_

_And then, without knowing how or why, he could see that he was falling. _

_Vision and color had returned with shocking clarity. He was tumbling off a cliff. The water below churned angrily against the rocks, waiting eagerly to welcome him into its cold embrace. He wondered – even as he fell – if he'd been pushed off the cliff or if he'd jumped._

_It didn't matter, really. The wind stung his eyes and his skin as the ocean rose rapidly to meet him. It didn't matter how he'd come to be falling through the night sky. If he was pushed, he deserved it. If he'd jumped, then he had truly gone mad, and the galaxy was well rid of him._

_He couldn't hear Padmé's screams. He couldn't hear anything but the wind. _

_He was falling, one way or another, toward his fate. Toward the encompassing, passionless, inky black darkness that crashed against the cliff. He couldn't stop it. He couldn't change it. He was waiting to hit, waiting for the sweet relief of impact. _

_But it never came. _

_._

* * *

.

Arden stared at the gelatinous substance on her plate and wrinkled her nose. "Lovely," she muttered, poking it with her spoon.

Elias leaned over and kissed her below the ear. "Just eat it," he chided.

"You first," she whispered back.

Elias raised an eyebrow, paused, then proceeded to shovel the muck into his mouth. After a few spoonfuls, he turned to Arden and gave her a big, sloppy grin. "'S'not bad."

Arden laughed and shoved him playfully. "Shut up."

"Hey, how's the food? Good?"

Elias twisted around in his seat. "Yeah, it's great, Ulin."

Across the table, Kohr and Ames caught Arden's attention and rolled their eyes in unison. She stifled a giggle.

Captain Dagen strode into the galley, picked up a jug of juice – at least Arden thought it was juice – and poured himself a cup. He took a sip, puckered his lips, and cleared his throat.

"Ames."

The boy looked up. "Sir?"

"Need you to finish up and go check on our guest. Get him ready."

Ames pushed his plate to the center of the table and stood up. "I'm on it."

Dagen took another sip before setting the cup down. "Kohr, you remember where the monitors are?"

"Yeah, sure, Captain."

"Get them up and running, I want to record this."

Kohr banged his spoon down and jumped up from his seat. He and Ames bolted from the room. Ulin emerged from the kitchen and looked around the table. "Hey, where'd they go?"

Dagen smiled at Ulin and folded his arms across his chest. "Sorry, Ulin, I need them."

"Aw, it's fine, kid."

Arden thought she saw something almost sad in the captain's eyes at Ulin's words, but when she didn't notice it again she decided it was nothing. Dagen left the room, and Arden and Elias went back to their food.

.

* * *

.

Anakin awoke on a hard surface, vaguely aware of the throbbing pain in his forehead and right knee. He started to open his eyes but quickly shut them when he found himself staring straight into an orb of harsh white light. Covering his eyes with one hand, he rolled slightly to the left and propped himself up on his elbow.

"You'll get used to it," a voice said from behind him.

Anakin jerked his head toward the voice, cracking one eye open and holding up a hand to block the glare. "Where am I?" His words came out slurred. He tried to probe the room with the Force, but he couldn't get a clear sense of anything in it. "What did you do to me?"

"Relax," the voice said, closer this time. It was definitely male. "You were sedated. You've been out for six hours. It'll be another hour or so before your senses all return to normal."

Something dark blocked out the source of the light. Anakin opened his eyes as much as the remaining glare would allow. Standing over him was the boy who had drugged him earlier. The boy raised his eyebrows and gave him a wry grin. "I'm supposed to let the captain know when you're ready for questioning." He leaned in close to Anakin's face. "You feel up for that?"

Anakin drew his head back, cringing at the burst of pain that accompanied the motion. "What kind of questioning?"

The boy waved nonchalantly. "The usual: name, rank, who sent you, do we have to kill you… you know. That kind of stuff."

Anakin tried to ignore the pounding in his head. He probably wasn't in the best of conditions for an interrogation – their plan, no doubt – but he was still desperate to know where he was and what was going on. Despite thirteen years of Jedi tutelage, patience was not one of his strengths.

"Sounds like fun," he muttered. "Can I get up, or are you going to shoot one of those into me again?" He pointed at a tray of syringes on a table across the room.

The boy looked over his shoulder and grinned. "Not unless you get rowdy. Go ahead, sit up if you want."

Anakin did so, slowly. "Where are we?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" The boy smirked and turned his back on Anakin. He walked over to the table and picked up a datapad. "Sorry, but I'm not allowed to say." He cocked his head to one side. "And don't try any Force tricks. You'll only make things worse for yourself."

Anakin glared at the boy's shoulder blades. "Why don't you just take me to your captain?" _So we can get this over with._

The boy turned around and shrugged. "If you think you're ready—"

"I'm fine," Anakin snapped.

"Suit yourself." The boy walked over to one of two control panels on the far wall and entered a series of numbers. "Ames," he spoke into the microphone, and part of the wall slid open to reveal another plain white room with a long white table in the center.

Anakin hopped down from his table and walked through the door, keeping his senses, if not his eyes, trained on the boy. It wasn't helping much.

"You can sit there," the boy – Ames – said, indicating a chair at the opposite end of the room. "Have fun." He stepped away from the wall and closed the door, locking Anakin into the white room.

"Perfect," Anakin said under his breath. He called on the Force's healing energies to ease the throbbing in his head as he strode over to the chair and sat down. Quiet settled over him for the first time since he'd left the Council chambers. He could hear the faint pulse of the air cooling and purification system, filtering into the room through an unseen vent. He felt his heart beating in his chest, his blood pounding through his veins. He heard the whisper of his own breath, flowing slowly in and out.

It was then that he noticed his hands were shaking.

Anakin pulled them down under the table, out of sight of whoever might be watching. After a moment, he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest.

It didn't matter where he was or who these people were. He was still one of the most powerful Jedi alive, and he would make that perfectly clear.

.

* * *

.

"Look at him in there. What's he so smug about?" Arden peered at the monitor, watching their stowaway with a mixture of interest and disdain. She turned to look at Kohr, who was studying the monitor even more carefully than she had been. "Can you believe he said he was _Anakin_ Skywalker?"

Kohr shook his head, silent as he gazed at the man on the screen. Arden rolled her eyes a little as she returned her attention to the monitor.

"Hey, is the volume up on that?" Ames called out, throwing his jacket across the back of a chair as he entered the room.

"I don't know," Arden answered. "I haven't touched it."

"Because I want to hear what he says, and the equipment's faulty enough without you—"

"I said I didn't touch it!" Arden threw her hands up in the air and whirled on Ames, who was now frozen in place a few steps away.

The young man whistled, and his eyes went wide. "Whoa, sorry. Didn't know you were so sensitive."

"Where have _you_ been?" Kohr mumbled, his eyes still glued to the monitor.

Arden threw Kohr a pointed look. "Don't you have a computer to slice or something?"

Kohr waved her off. "Nah, I can do it later." He squinted his eyes and leaned closer to the screen. "He does kind of look familiar, though, doesn't he?"

Arden and Ames exchanged a glance before leaning over Kohr's shoulders to get a better look.

"Hmm." Arden scratched her chin and then straightened up. "Nope."

"Oh, come on! Ames?"

"Never seen him before," the other boy said with a shrug. "I would know; I just spent the last few minutes talking to him. Sorry."

"Ah, what do _you_ know?" Kohr propped both elbows on the console and rested his chin in his palms.

Arden quirked one eyebrow and glanced at Ames over Kohr's head. "And you think _I'm_ sensitive?"

"Shh! The captain just went in!" Kohr reached for a knob and cranked up the volume. Arden and Ames settled down into chairs on either side and leaned in to watch.

Arden felt a touch on her shoulder, and she nearly jumped out of her seat. When she looked up she saw Elias smiling tightly.

"Hey," he whispered, putting both hands on her shoulders.

"Hey. He's about to start."

Elias nodded. He bent over and kissed her on the cheek before giving his full attention to the monitor.

"_So,"_ the captain said, his voice edged in static. _"Why don't you start by telling me your real name?"_

Arden felt a chill run through her as she and the others stared into the stowaway's hard eyes.

.

* * *

.

"We're approaching the planet now, my lord." The human male was bent down on one knee in the cockpit of a small freighter. In front of him, a cloaked figure opened his yellow eyes and stared out at the rust-colored planet below.

"Undetected?"

"We believe so, my lord. Sensors indicate no irregular activity on the surface."

The cloaked man folded his hands under his chin and leaned forward, the cockpit lights making his green skin seem to glow. "Very well. Take us down."

.

* * *

.

"So. Why don't you start by telling me your real name?"

"I already told you." Anakin probed the captain, but there was still no sense of him in the Force. It was as if he didn't even exist.

The captain's face was unreadable. "You're _not_ Anakin Skywalker. I know that for a fact."

Anakin shook his head. "I think I know who I am."

The other man placed both hands on the table and leaned forward, his calm veneer cracking just a little. "You must be crazy then, because Anakin Skywalker is dead."

The words had the effect of silencing Anakin's protests, if only for a moment. He stared into the captain's dark eyes, trying to determine whether there was any truth to his words. It occurred to him that something might have happened, something that could have led the galaxy at large to believe he had died. The captain certainly seemed to believe so.

"How did he die?" Anakin said at last.

The captain raised his eyebrows. "Are you telling me you're not Anakin Skywalker now?"

"I'm serious! I don't know what's going on!"

The man shook his head. "This isn't funny," he said as he turned and walked to the door. "You're going to tell me the truth."

Anakin uncrossed his arms and began to stand. The captain reached up and disconnected a small device hanging from the ceiling.

"I have been—"

Before he could finish, the captain whirled around and raised his hand, knocking Anakin backward into the wall with a blast of Force energy. He tried to resist, but with his reflexes still dulled by the sedative, he could do nothing but watch as the captain approached him.

"I know you're powerful; I'm not doubting that. But when you insist on passing yourself off as a Jedi who has been dead for nearly fifty years, I have to conclude that you're completely insane." He made a shoving gesture with his hand, pressing Anakin even more firmly against the wall. "Are you insane? Or is this just a game to you?"

Anakin stopped trying to resist. "Fifty years?"

For the first time, the captain faltered. He used his free hand to grab Anakin's chair and pull it over to the wall. Then he dropped Anakin in it.

"Forty-seven," he said quietly, lowering his hand and his Force-grip on Anakin. Disbelief crept into his eyes. "Where did you come from? Are you a clone or something? One of the Emperor's sick projects?"

"No," Anakin insisted, shaking his head. Panic began to rise up in him. He felt darkness wash over everything and thought, for a moment, that he might be the cause of it. "I don't know this Emperor. Please—"

"_Captain, are you okay?" _

Both men snapped their heads toward the comm. "Everything's fine, Arden. Return to your duties."

"'_Fraid not, Captain,"_ a male voice cut in. _"We've got incoming."_

The captain ran to the door. "Let me out, now!" He pulled out his comlink and spoke into it. "Attention, this is Captain Dagen." The door slid open to reveal the man and woman from the cockpit. "Evacuate, I repeat, evacuate. Everyone to the _Happy Ho'Din_, immediately."

Anakin stood up and took a few steps toward the others. The man from the cockpit – Elias, if he remembered correctly – grabbed the captain by the shoulder. "Why Ulin's ship? What are you doing?"

Dagen nodded toward Anakin. "Take him and the others, and get out of here. I'm staying." He reached into his pocket, pulled out a datapad, and handed it to Elias. "Make sure Ulin gets this."

"You don't know how many there are!" the woman, Arden, exclaimed. "You could be severely outnumbered!"

Elias nodded. "Arden's right. The odds of making it out of here—"

Dagen cut him off with a wave. "Never tell me the odds." He put a hand on Elias's forearm. "I'll be fine, now go." He looked back at Anakin and jerked his thumb toward the door. "You too."

Anakin felt the weight of the dark side closing in, and he realized it was coming from above. He sensed at least four minds saturated in the dark energies. One was calmer than the others, like ice rather than fire. Cold, calculating, and patient.

"No," he said. "Let me stay. I can help you."

Dagen studied Anakin for a second before nodding his head. "Fine. Give him his lightsaber."

The newcomers stared at their captain in disbelief. Elias shook his head. "Captain, no."

Dagen turned and smiled. "It'll be all right, Elias. Trust me."

Elias narrowed his eyes at Anakin, but he reached into his jacket and pulled the lightsaber out. He tossed it in a low arc toward the other end of the room. As soon as the silver hilt slapped into Anakin's hand, he felt a surge of energy, a renewal of purpose. His senses were nearly back to normal.

"Come on, let's get going," Dagen ordered. Anakin followed after him, leaving the interrogation room behind.

.


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

* * *

An explosion rocked the bunker as Arden followed Elias back through the medbay and into the control room. He grabbed a bag and thrust it into her hands.

"Find all of the datatapes, chips, anything with information on it, and put them in this bag."

Arden nodded and slid a stack of datapads into the bag while Elias and Ames started dumping the computers and monitors onto the floor. Kohr came over and took the bag from her, filling it with the rest of the data.

"Ames, the explosives," Elias said, snapping his fingers. Ames tossed a package across the room. Arden tensed for a moment as it fell into Elias's hand. He unwrapped the explosive device and placed it under a computer in the center of the pile. "Okay, let's move."

Elias grabbed Arden's hand and pulled her to the front of their group as they ran toward the turbolift at the end of the corridor. Kohr aimed a remote back at the control room while Elias summoned the lift.

Arden drew closer to Elias. "It's the Sith, isn't it?" she whispered, watching the control room as another explosion rumbled through the bunker. No one answered. The lift door slid open behind them, and she followed Elias and Ames inside.

Elias nodded at Kohr. "Do it."

Kohr hit the button on the remote, and a plume of flame erupted from the control room. He stepped backward into the turbolift, and the door closed.

Arden felt her heart pounding against her ribcage. She'd known this would happen; they should never have gone to Ossus. Almost as disturbing was the realization that her fellow crewmembers were unusually well-prepared for this situation.

The lift shuddered as it descended. The bunker was settled in the side of a rather large hill, and Ulin's ship was docked in a hangar that jutted out from the bottom of the hill. When they'd first arrived, Arden had been annoyed that she had to trek from the surface to the basement, from the northwest corner to the southeast corner, just to get some food from the _Ho'Din_. Now, with the Sith coming from above, she was very thankful that they had an escape.

The three men exchanged uneasy glances as the lift shuddered again. Kohr looked up at the ceiling. "I can't believe we left him alone with that guy," he muttered.

Elias stared straight ahead at the door. "He'll be fine." He looked down at Arden and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "He can handle himself just fine."

Arden nodded, watching the light above the door move from right to left. They were almost there.

The door opened on another control center, this one overlooking the hangar. There were three rooms, each separated from the others by a blast door. Arden and the others jogged through the rooms, closing each blast door behind them until they came to the last one.

"Why is this one closed?" Arden slapped her palms against the door. "Kohr?"

The young man flipped open the keypad. "I don't have the code." He looked up at the others. "Ulin should have been here already."

There was another explosion, closer this time. Ames jumped.

"What the hell—?"

Arden backed up against the blast door. "They're coming."

"Our explosives aren't strong enough to take out the door." Kohr ripped the face off of the keypad and started rummaging through the wires. "I'm gonna have to hotwire this thing."

Elias growled and pulled out his blaster. "You better do it fast, because it sounds like their explosives _are_ strong enough."

"I'm working on it!"

As Kohr fiddled with the wires, Ames took his holster off and handed it to Arden. She accepted it hesitantly. "What's this for?"

The boy shrugged. "Just thought you'd feel better if you had a weapon."

Another explosion, still closer. The Sith had to be through the first blast door. Arden shook her head and tried to give the blaster back. "Don't you need it?"

Ames waved her away. "Naw."

Elias closed his eyes and muttered something that Arden couldn't make out. She buckled the holster around her hips and rested her right hand on the blaster.

"I think I've got it," Kohr said, touching two wires together. As the blast door slid open, another explosion rocked the entire room, causing several ceiling panels to fall down. Arden and Elias jumped out of the way to avoid being crushed.

That was when Arden heard several angry voices coming from beyond the blast door.

"Come on!" Ames shouted, already heading through the doorway. "Come on, let's go!"

Elias didn't move. A strange look had crept into his eyes. He turned and gave Arden a half-smile. "I'll stay and hold them off. You go with Kohr and Ames."

Arden held onto Elias's hand. "No, we can make it, come on!"

There was a crash on the other side of the blast door. Elias snapped his head toward the sound and raised his blaster.

"Elias…"

He pulled her close and kissed her. "Go."

And then there was another sound, a low, steady beeping that set off warning bells in Arden's head. Elias shoved her away as the door exploded in.

She fell to the floor hard, propelled by the energy of the blast. Heat rolled across her skin, so intense she was sure she was about to be incinerated.

Someone was pulling her up by the shoulders, but she couldn't hear anything but the ringing in her ears, couldn't think of anything but getting to Elias. She tried to crawl toward him, fighting the grip on her shoulders.

"No!" she screamed, her voice faint to her own ears. She looked up at the person holding her, saw Kohr's face, saw his lips moving, eyes staring over her, shouting something, something…

"Elias!" Kohr's voice returned in an explosion of sound.

Arden turned to find Elias, expecting the worse. But as she twisted out of Kohr's grip, she realized someone else was standing over her, and they were all only centimeters away from a solid wall of fire.

"Get her out of here!" Elias yelled over his shoulder. His arms were outstretched, reaching toward the fire, almost as if he was pushing it away. He winced and drew his head back. "A little help?"

Kohr lifted Arden up and dragged her away from the blast. She watched in disbelief as Ames ran to Elias's side, lifted a hand, and _pushed _the wall of flames back through the blast door. As the fire subsided, Arden heard a new sound, a buzzing, hissing sound that she didn't recognize. Elias and Ames pulled twin metal rods from their jackets and stepped in front of the smoldering doorway. The last thing Arden saw before Kohr carried her out of the room was a flash of green and blue light.

.

* * *

.

"What exactly are we dealing with here?" Anakin asked as he jogged slightly behind the captain.

"The Lessers," Dagen replied absently. He turned a corner, and the floor began to incline.

Anakin was about to ask what he meant when Dagen stopped and pulled his lightsaber from his jacket.

"Do you feel that?" Dagen asked.

Anakin frowned. "Three lifeforces, coming straight at us."

Dagen glanced at him and nodded. "I guess you're not a complete fraud."

"I already told you—"

The captain held up a hand and smirked. "It was a joke."

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "I didn't take you for the joking type."

"Yeah, well, don't tell anyone." Dagen activated his lightsaber. "Ready?"

Anakin's saber ignited with a _snap-hiss_. "Let's go."

They jogged down the corridor, Anakin following after the captain. The incline grew steeper as they approached what Anakin could only assume was the surface. The three lifeforms were very close now – Anakin could make out some of the differences between their presences. As he had earlier, he sensed that one of the intruders was very calm and dispassionate. The other two were hot with anger, but he sensed restraint as well. They weren't just here to kill.

"They're looking for something," he said between breaths.

The captain didn't say anything, and Anakin still couldn't feel anything from him either, but he sensed that he had hit on the truth.

One of the intruders dropped back and headed in a different direction, but the other two continued forward. The corridor ahead split and went off in two directions. Before they reached the fork in the corridor, Dagen stopped and put out a hand to keep Anakin back. He raised a finger to his lips and then closed his eyes.

There was a crash from one of the passageways.

"Watch it, _shufa_!" a voice hissed. Anakin recognized a distinct Trandoshan accent.

"Quiet!" another male replied. "That was a ceiling panel."

"They're close."

Dagen lifted a hand and then dropped it. There were several more crashes and an angry yell. While the Trandoshan and his companion were still shouting, the captain swung around the corner and charged at them. Anakin followed right behind him.

The Trandoshan was caught beneath one of the fallen ceiling panels, but as soon as he saw Anakin and Dagen running at him, he roared and flung the panel at them. Anakin raised a hand and stopped the metal sheet mid-flight while Dagen ducked under it and thrust his lightsaber at the Trandoshan's human companion. Anakin dropped the panel and brandished his lightsaber, moving to intercept the Trandoshan.

The corridor was narrow, and Anakin put himself back-to-back with Dagen as the two intruders ignited lightsabers.

"Jedi scum," the human said with a leer.

Dagen flipped his wrists and knocked the man's saber upward. He kicked the human in the chest, sending him into the wall. Anakin spared Dagen a short glance before returning his attention to the towering Trandoshan.

"You're all going to burn," the alien hissed as their lightsabers locked. He bared his teeth in a gruesome smile.

Dagen appeared at Anakin's elbow and joined him against the Trandoshan. "You guys really need to come up with some new threats," he said.

The three combatants pivoted around each other, and Anakin caught sight of the human male lying on the ground, a lightsaber wound smoking in his chest.

"That was quick," Anakin murmured, blocking a blow.

"Wasn't hard," was all Dagen said.

Their opponent growled. "You will pay for that."

Dagen pushed forward with his weapon, putting the Trandoshan on the defensive. "Whatever you say, big guy."

The alien smiled again. "That's right, Jedi. Whatever _I_ say."

Anakin felt the floor beneath him rumble as if from an explosion. He sensed a mixture of panic and anticipation from below.

"Focus," Dagen warned.

There was another explosion. The Trandoshan used his size and weight to push Anakin and the captain backward. Free for a moment, he roared and lifted a hand to chest level.

Anakin's eyes widened. He recognized that gesture.

Both Anakin and Dagen raised their lightsabers as lightning exploded from the alien's fingertips.

.

* * *

.

Arden fought back as Kohr grabbed her hand and began to run. "Come on," he urged, "we've got to get out of here."

"We can't just leave them!"

"We're not, they're just buying time for us to get the ship running."

Arden tried to look back, but Kohr was running too fast. "I don't understand… what's going on…" She fought for breath as they sprinted toward the hangar.

"I'll explain later." Kohr pulled a small remote from his pocket and aimed it at the far end of the corridor. A sliver of white light appeared and grew larger as the hangar door opened.

Tears sprang into her eyes as she stumbled after Kohr. They had abandoned Elias to the Sith. They had let him be their sacrifice. She tried to struggle against Kohr one more time, but his hand was like a vise on hers. They ran through the hangar entrance and climbed the ramp of the _Happy Ho'Din_.

Kohr didn't let go of her until they were in the cockpit; then he dropped her in the co-pilot's chair. He rushed around the cabin, flipping switches and turning knobs. He even punched the console once or twice. Arden stared numbly out the viewport at the hangar entrance, praying for Elias to appear.

"Ulin should have been here," Kohr said, more to himself than to her. He punched the console again. "Piece of junk…" He stopped suddenly and looked around the cabin before grabbing the comlink off his belt. "Captain? Captain Dagen?"

There was nothing but static.

"Dammit!" Kohr gulped down several deep breaths as the engines started to whine. "Ha! There we go. Now, Arden, I need you to—"

"Look!" she interrupted, jumping up from her seat. Elias and Ames were sprinting full speed into the hangar, moving faster than she'd ever seen a human run. And in their hands were… lightsabers?

She didn't have time to process it, because hot on their trail were two men in black, both of them also wielding lightsabers. Arden's blood went cold at the sight of the Sith.

"Aw, great," Kohr growled. "Arden, get the ship in the air!"

"But where are _you_ going?"

"To help them!" He ran from the cockpit, and the next Arden saw of him, he was outside of the ship, rushing toward the Sith.

Elias and Ames had turned around, and now each of them were fighting a Sith on their own. Elias was a fairly powerfully-built man, but the Sith he was fighting was enormous. Arden fumbled with the controls as she watched them.

"Come on, come on," she urged the ship, glancing down at the controls. She barely knew how to pilot anything, let alone Ulin's junk ship. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Elias go down.

"NO!" She yanked back on the stick, and the ship jolted into the air.

Kohr fired off several shots at the Sith, distracting him long enough for Elias to jump to his feet and resume the fight. Kohr joined him, activating a green lightsaber and rushing headlong at the Sith.

Arden steered the ship toward her friends, turning it so that the ramp was facing them. Just before she lost sight of them, Ames knocked the other Sith's lightsaber away and kicked him square in the chest. Then he raised his hand, and the Sith flew across the room, crashing into a stack of crates.

The next thing she knew, Elias was in the cockpit, sliding into the captain's seat. "Everybody strap in," he ordered, flipping a few switches above his head.

"Wait!" Ames shouted from the corridor. "It's Ulin!"

"Where?" Elias yelled back.

"Just hold steady, Kohr's getting him!"

Elias stared at the side wall of the cockpit as if seeing beyond it. "Better hurry it up!"

Arden glanced back and forth between Elias and the corridor. "You didn't kill them?"

Elias shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

"You don't think so?" Arden flailed her hands in the air. She was still having trouble with the whole lightsaber thing. "How can you not know?"

Elias winced. "Well, I dropped a big light fixture on them, but I'm pretty sure they're still alive."

She was about to ask how he'd managed to drop a light fixture on them when he reached over and pulled her gently toward him. Arden felt a swell of relief as he kissed her.

"Hang onto something," he said.

Before Arden could respond, Ames came up behind them and leaned down in between their seats. "Ulin's on board, let's get moving!"

Elias pulled back on the throttle, and the ship shot through the open roof. As the _Happy Ho'Din_ broke free of the planet's atmosphere, Arden leaned back in her seat and finally had time to wonder just what the hell had happened down there.

.

* * *

.

"I think you made him mad!" Anakin shouted over the crackle and crash of electricity.

Dagen squinted his eyes against the light. "How do you know it wasn't you?"

Anakin smirked, and for a moment he could almost imagine he was back home, fighting alongside Obi-Wan.

The Trandoshan stepped toward them, the stream of lightning intensifying. "My master is coming, Jedi, and when he arrives, you will pay."

Dagen turned his head to Anakin. "Can you handle this alone?" he murmured so that only Anakin could hear him.

Anakin nodded. He thought he knew what the captain had in mind. "Yeah, I've got it."

Dagen deactivated his lightsaber, and the lightning was redirected to Anakin's blade. He held firm against the lightning as Dagen lifted his arms to the ceiling. The remaining panels above the Trandoshan began to tremble and shift. Dagen jerked his hands toward the floor, and the ceiling came tumbling down onto their opponent.

Through the dust and debris, Anakin saw another figure appear at the end of the corridor. It was a Falleen male in dark robes – the cool, calculating presence he had sensed earlier. The Falleen's eyes shifted from Anakin to Dagen and widened.

"_You!_" he shouted.

Dagen grabbed Anakin by the arm. "And that's our cue." He pulled Anakin in the opposite direction; the floor continued to shake as more explosions ripped through the bunker. Dagen stopped underneath a vent and proceeded to cut the grated vent cover with his lightsaber.

"What—?"

"Be quiet and get up there," Dagen said as the grate fell between them. He pulled a tiny silver ball out of his pocket and clicked a switch on it.

"Is that—?"

"A miniature detonator. Thermal." He glanced at Anakin. "_Go._"

Anakin jumped up into the air shaft as Dagen threw the detonator down the corridor. He began to crawl along the shaft away from the detonator, and he heard the captain follow him into the shaft.

"That blast should block them in long enough for us to escape," Dagen said.

Anakin winced as his hand nicked a piece of twisted metal that jutted up from the bottom. "How much time do we have?"

"About ten seconds." The captain laughed. "Don't worry; we're past the blast radius."

"And those two back there?"

"They'll probably live. That Falleen is far more skilled than the others."

The shaft and the corridor below shook violently from the force of the thermal detonation. Anakin continued forward, trying to ignore his now ringing ears.

Dagen shouted something at him. "What?" Anakin yelled, coming to a halt.

"I said we're almost there. When you get to the end, push the grate out and head for the ship."

"Right." Anakin crawled ahead. The air shaft was becoming tighter around him, but he squeezed his way through. He saw several thin rays of light spilling into the shaft. The metal trembled from another explosion far below.

Anakin came to the end of the tunnel and pushed against the grate. It took a few blows, but the grate came off and clattered to the floor of the hangar. Resting at the center of the room was the ship Anakin had boarded on Ossus. He and Dagen emerged from the air shaft and ran to the ship. Dagen opened the hatch and motioned for Anakin to get on board. He pulled out a comlink and flipped it on.

"Elias."

There was no response – only static.

"Damn," the captain muttered, inspecting the device. "Looks like I broke it somewhere back there."

Anakin stood on the ramp, watching him. "I'm sure they're okay."

Dagen ignored him and climbed the ramp, closing it once he reached the top. Anakin hurried after him. He reached the cockpit just behind the captain, who was already powering up the ship.

"Sit down," Dagen ordered. Anakin bristled at his tone, but he did as the man said. The ship rose into the air, and the ceiling overhead retracted, revealing a gray sky. Dagen pulled back on the controls, and the ship rocketed toward the atmosphere, leaving the bunker and the planet behind.

Anakin glanced over at Dagen, but the other man continued to ignore him. Now that they were out of immediate danger, Anakin sensed that he was going to be under heavy scrutiny once more.

It was going to be a long flight, indeed.

.

* * *

.

Darth Dominius had every right to be furious as he felt his enemies' presences grow distant, but instead he was somewhat amused. His surviving comrades had suffered only minor injuries, and only one apprentice had been killed. Force knew there were plenty of replacements throughout his master's empire.

"I will prepare the ship, my lord," one of his servants informed.

Dominius waved him away. "Go heal yourself. I will handle the ship."

"Yes, sir." The Trandoshan apprentice bowed low before limping away. Dominius closed the cockpit door behind him.

He withheld a laugh as he powered up the ship. Under any other circumstances he probably would have overcome his reptilian heritage and become angry about failing his mission. Not today, though. He had good news for his master.

A miniature holographic image of the Sith Master appeared before him. "My lord," Dominius greeted, bowing his head.

"_Lady Varice informs me that the thieves stole information on the Vjun project."_

Dominius smirked inwardly. Always straight to the point. "They were Jedi, my lord. Jedi thieves."

"_Did you reacquire the data?"_

"Not yet. They split up and escaped. I lost one man."

"_Send word to Ossus. I want Lord Raze and Lady Varice to lead the search for these Jedi. You are to return to Coruscant immediately."_ He paused for a moment, as if reaching across space to peer into his minion's heart. _"Is there something else, my apprentice?"_

Dominius hesitated. It still surprised him that his master could read him like that from so far away. "There was a man with them, my lord. He felt like… well, he seemed to be a locus of energy."

His master didn't even blink. The image wavered for a moment before regaining clarity. _"A locus?"_ the Sith Master repeated.

Dominius nodded swiftly. "Indeed, my lord. A very powerful presence, filled with confusion and doubt. I sensed much fear and darkness in him."

His master seemed to turn it over in his mind. _"And you have no idea who this man is?"_

Dominius took a deep breath. "No, my lord. I have never seen him before."

"_Very well. We shall investigate this mysterious Force-user at a later time. Do you have anything else to add to this report?"_

"Yes, my lord. I request permission to personally lead the search for these thieves."

"_Why?"_

This time Dominius smiled, an act that his reptilian features made particularly eerie. "Because I believe I have found Skywalker and Cain after all this time."

.

* * *

.

Once the ship entered hyperspace, Captain Dagen leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Anakin stared at him for a moment, waiting for the interrogation to resume.

After five minutes of silence, Anakin realized the captain wasn't going to say anything. He cleared his throat.

"I'm not lying to you about who I am," he said slowly.

The captain didn't say a word. He did open his eyes, but his gaze remained on the starlines outside of the cockpit.

"I'm sorry about—"

"Look, I appreciate your help back there," Dagen said abruptly. "But you have to know how crazy you sound with this Anakin Skywalker thing."

Anakin pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "I told you. I'm not a clone, I don't know any Emperor, and I'm just as confused as you are."

"Fortunately for us, there's someone here who can verify your story." He rose from his seat. "Come with me."

Anakin stood and followed Dagen out of the cockpit. They walked down the main corridor, turning off into a darkened service passage. A shower of sparks spilled into the passage ahead, and Anakin squinted his eyes in the dim light to see the source of those sparks.

"A droid?" he whispered.

Dagen took a few more steps down the passage and turned toward the niche where the droid was working. "You can come out now."

An astromech droid emerged from the niche and rolled toward Anakin.

"This is our trusty mechanic," Dagen said. "He came aboard on Heibic 3 while you were unconscious."

The droid entered the light, and Anakin had to blink several times to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"Artoo?"

The droid stopped as if uncertain whether to go any further. Anakin felt his heart ache. Here, finally, was someone who might understand – who _would _understand.

"Artoo, it's me."

The little droid swiveled its dome toward the captain. The two looked at each other for a moment before the captain nodded for R2-D2 to proceed.

The droid let out several short whistles and beeps.

"He says that although Anakin Skywalker died forty-seven standard years ago at the Battle of Endor, he cannot deny that the resemblance is striking."

Anakin experienced a swell of dark resentment. "I _know_ what he said." He narrowed his eyes at the captain.

Dagen didn't respond, but there was something unusual in his expression, almost like a combination of irritation and disbelief. He waved at the droid. "Thanks, Artoo. You can return to your duties." Dagen pushed past Anakin without another word, leaving him in the service passage.

Anakin hesitated for a moment as he watched Artoo roll back to his station, seemingly unaffected by their encounter. Then Anakin spun around and ran after Dagen. "Hey, wait!"

He emerged from the passage to find Dagen walking into another room slightly down the corridor. Anakin rushed into the room, realizing as he did so that it was the captain's private quarters. Dagen's back was to the door. He had his hands planted on a small desk, his head bent as if in prayer. Anakin felt a surge of impatience.

"What did you do to my droid?" he growled.

Dagen let out a gruff laugh. "You've got some explaining to do," he said, pulling something from his eyes. "Because if by some infinitesimal chance you really are who you say you are, then that would make me your grandson."

Anakin's mouth opened involuntarily as the captain turned to face him. "My _what_?"

The captain stared back at him with blue eyes and folded his arms across his chest. "My name isn't Dagen. It's Ben Skywalker, so you'd better start at the beginning."

.


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

* * *

Arden watched the lights on the landing pad grow larger as the _Happy Ho'Din_ began its descent. It was night on this side of Nar Shaddaa, and the port area was aglow with flashing neon signs advertising various less than reputable businesses. Despite being a notorious hideout for criminals, the Smuggler's Moon was anything but discreet.

The _Ho'Din_ settled onto the platform, letting out a hiss of steam. Arden continued to stare out the viewport as Elias began shutting down the ship's systems. After a moment, he turned to her.

"I'm sorry, Arden."

She picked one bright green sign to focus on. It invited patrons to enjoy "Exotic Females Nightly."

"I should have told you."

"You said that already," Arden answered.

They sat in silence, listening to the other passengers moving around outside of the cockpit. Rain began to speckle the viewport, plopping gently against the ship. Arden stared at the lower left corner of the viewport, watching one raindrop grow larger as it made a trail toward the bottom of the window. The door opened, and Ames walked in.

"I got a signal from the safe house."

Elias frowned and turned to look at Ames. "Who?"

"Guess."

Elias narrowed his eyes at the boy.

Ames rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. It was Myri."

Elias sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess we weren't as far off the grid as we thought."

"Well, it is Myri we're talking about."

"True."

Arden didn't even try to guess who this Myri was or why she was waiting for them on Nar Shaddaa. She was still reeling from everything that had happened, especially the discovery that for the last six months she'd been in a relationship with one of the most wanted Jedi Knights in the galaxy.

"_Who are you?" She tried to be demanding, but it came out more like a plea._

_Elias didn't look at her at first. "I lied to you about my last name. It's not Till. It's Cain." He took a deep breath and turned toward her. "I'm a Jedi Knight."_

_Arden pressed her lips together and nodded. Then she slapped him across the face. The crack echoed in the cockpit._

"_Why?" she asked, her eyes hot with tears. _

"_We were deep undercover. I couldn't tell you."_

"_So you were _using _me?"_

_He glanced up quickly. "No! It wasn't like that. I never meant to get you involved in all this."_

_Arden looked away. "Yeah, well you did."_

"_I'm sorry, I should have told you."_

_Arden felt her lower lip trembling. She covered her mouth with one hand. _

"_Arden…"_

"_Just leave me alone."_

She didn't say anything else to him for the rest of the trip. In all honesty, she hadn't really known what else to say. The war between the Jedi and the Sith had torn the galaxy apart, and all she'd wanted to do was make her own way while staying off the Empire's radar. How was she supposed to react to the news that she'd been employed by Jedi for the last six months, that the man she'd hoped might become her lover was actually the notorious Jedi Cain? How could Elias expect her to react any differently?

"We'd better get moving," Elias said, interrupting her thoughts. Arden stared blankly at him, pulling the anger and hurt inside.

Ames cleared his throat. "Kohr and Ulin are waiting outside. The way seems clear."

Elias reached up and switched off the cockpit lights. "With Myri here, I'm not surprised."

Arden followed Elias and Ames out of the ship to where Kohr and Ulin were silently waiting for them. None of the men spoke; they each looked around, examining the shadows. Out here in the open air, Arden felt extremely vulnerable. She wanted to reach for Elias, just for reassurance, but she held back.

"Why are we—?"

Ulin raised a finger to his lips and shushed her.

"Not until we reach the safehouse," Elias whispered in her ear. "Someone's always listening."

Arden nodded and took a step closer to the others, waiting for something to happen.

The shadows stirred, and a cloaked figure stepped out into the light. Arden tensed up, but she noticed a smile creeping onto Ames's face. The boy strode forward to meet this stranger. After a moment, the others followed. Arden saw two pale hands reach out from the cloak to grasp first for Ames, then for Kohr. Ulin received a hug, and Elias was greeted with a bowed head. Arden wasn't sure if the mysterious figure had nodded at her as well, but it was over quickly, and the stranger was already leading them into the city.

.

* * *

.

Ben Skywalker sat on one side of the dejarik board, staring at the man who was, despite all odds, his grandfather. He placed a hand on the board and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. There were a million things he wanted to ask him. Things about his father, about the old Jedi Order.

Things about the dark side, mostly.

None of those questions made it past his lips. Instead, he locked eyes with Anakin Skywalker – Darth Vader – and waited.

His grandfather cleared his throat, interrupting the uncomfortable silence. "Is there a problem?"

_Besides the obvious?_ "No," Ben answered, removing his hand from the board and breaking eye contact. "It's just hard to believe, you know?"

"But you _do _believe me?" There was a powerful earnestness in his voice, an almost child-like desire to be trusted and depended on. Even without the Force it would have been compelling.

Ben nodded. "As crazy as it all sounds, I do."

Anakin let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

"But how did you know _I_ was telling the truth? I could have been lying about being your grandson."

Anakin looked away for a moment. "It wouldn't have been a very good lie. It's not exactly common knowledge that I'm going to be a father." He rubbed his hands together slowly. "Jedi aren't supposed to have families."

Ben didn't fail to notice the bitterness in his grandfather's voice. It sent a chill up his spine. He thought at first that his emotions were playing tricks on him, that he was searching for signs of the darkness that would turn this man into Darth Vader. But as Anakin continued to rub his palms together, Ben saw how pale he was, how dark and sunken his eyes were. The man was afraid, confused, and sleep-deprived. Not a good combination for someone destined to turn to the dark side.

"I didn't realize the old Order didn't allow families," Ben said carefully. Even at its peak, the New Jedi Order's information on the Old Republic Jedi was full of holes. "Families are common among Jedi in this time."

Anakin nodded his head silently, staring at the dejarik board. "So," he said after a moment, his tone indicating he wished to change the subject. "Were you on an undercover mission?"

Ben frowned. "Huh? Oh, the eyes. Yeah, I guess you could say that."

His grandfather pressed his lips together and leaned back in his seat. "It seems like there are still plenty of Dark Jedi to deal with in your time. Some things never change."

Ben smirked. "Those weren't your average Dark Jedi, Gramps."

Anakin made a face. "_Gramps?_"

"No? I kinda like it."

"I kinda don't. You can just call me Anakin."

"Oh, all right." Ben leaned back in his chair, mimicking the other man's posture. "_Anakin_. Those were the Lessers. Sith apprentices of varying degree, all of them lower than the Master and his Lords."

Anakin's eyes widened. Ben was getting used to that look on his face.

"How many Sith are there in this time?"

Ben wondered how much he should tell him. Would it make a difference what he revealed? Telling him about the Empire certainly couldn't make things worse, he supposed. Still, he was hesitant.

"We don't have exact figures. A few dozen Lords. Several hundred Lessers, possibly a thousand. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers of various Force sensitivities. Compared to the military forces of any number of worlds, their size hardly seems worth mentioning." Ben gave Anakin a knowing look. "But you and I both realize how powerful a single misguided Force-user can be. A whole army was nearly unstoppable."

Anakin shook his head, lost somewhere inside his thoughts. Ben could sense confusion, doubt, even fear. Yes, there was definitely a large amount of fear clouding his grandfather's presence.

"I don't understand how Sidious could have built up an army of Sith under our noses. We thought there were only tw—"

"Sidious?" That was a name Ben hadn't heard in a long time. He'd always thought of Palpatine as simply the Emperor, the focal point of evil, the nightmarish specter that was used to frighten children into behaving. The demented puppet master who shaped the galaxy in his own image, whose brilliant schemes accounted for every possibility, even those that couldn't be predicted.

Well, all except for one. The most important one.

The true power of the light.

Ben wished he could have seen that power firsthand, wished he could have seen his grandfather hurl the Emperor down that shaft in a final act of defiance against the darkness.

"He's not responsible for this," Ben continued. "Not directly, anyway."

"How do you mean?"

The whole, terrible truth would take time to explain, and Ben wasn't ready for that yet. He needed to rest, to regain his footing. Just being in the same room with the man who was both destructor and savior of the Jedi Order was causing him to lose focus. Maybe once they reached their destination, he would tell Anakin what had happened to the galaxy he knew.

"Not now," he said. "We'll be arriving on Tatooine in a few hours. Maybe then my head will stop spinning long enough for me to explain."

Anakin didn't argue. In fact, he looked almost contemplative. "What business do you have on Tatooine?"

"You'll see."

.

* * *

.

The safe house was nestled between a pawn shop and a junk store in one of the less frequently trafficked areas of Nar Shaddaa. Arden followed close behind Elias and Kohr as they turned the corner, passing the front window of the pawn shop. Ahead of them Ames, Ulin, and the mysterious hooded figure had stepped off the path and pressed themselves flush against the wall. After a few seconds they disappeared from sight. Kohr glanced over his shoulder as he approached the keypad on the wall. By the time Arden and Elias joined him there, a door slid open, and they stepped through.

The first thing Arden saw was a long, narrow corridor dimly lit by blue lights. Ames was standing alone at the very end of the corridor, looking down what appeared to be a flight of stairs. The lights gave his dark skin an eerie glow. Arden realized he was whispering to someone out of view, perhaps standing at the bottom of the steps. He made a shooing gesture with his hand, looking behind him as he did so.

"It's all right, Ames," Elias shouted down the hall. "Arden's not going to tell anyone."

Ames looked embarrassed, or maybe nervous. Arden couldn't tell which. She was a little surprised that he was apprehensive about her being here. They'd worked together for months without much incident.

She reminded herself that he was a Jedi, and Jedi were known for their secretive natures.

They joined Ames at the top of the steps. Far below, at the base of the steep staircase, stood the hooded figure.

Next to Arden, Elias smiled. "You can take the hood off now."

The figure shrugged and reached its pale hands toward the hood. With a flutter of material and a murmur of discontent, the hood was flung back, revealing a young girl with dark red hair and eyes that appeared – at least from where Arden was standing – to be as gray as durasteel. She couldn't have been any older than fourteen or fifteen, not with that face. But the way she stared up at them, as though she could read their minds and souls, made her seem far older. It might have been a trick of the light, Arden thought, because as soon as they began to descend the stairs, the look was gone, and in its place was the fresh excitement of youth.

"What took you so long?" the girl asked with mock severity, her eyes lingering on Kohr and Ames.

Ames grinned as he and Kohr each slung an arm over her shoulders. They towered over the girl. "We ran into some old friends."

Instead of being amused, the girl looked past them, her eyes searching the stairwell. "Where's Ben?" she asked, a frantic edge creeping into her voice. "Isn't he meeting you here? You didn't leave him, did you?" She ducked out from under their arms and rushed toward the stairwell.

"Allana!"

Everyone in the corridor, including Arden, turned to look at the woman who had spoken. Wearing a dark jacket and pants with a Corellian bloodstripe down the side, she couldn't have been past her early thirties. Her short blonde hair was covered by a lopsided cap of unknown military origin, her arms crossed loosely over her chest. "You know you would have felt it. Ben's fine, right, boys?"

Elias nodded, grinning wryly at the sight of this newcomer. For a moment, Arden felt a twinge of jealousy. "It'd take more than a few Sith to kill Ben Skywalker."

Arden felt her eyes widen as she turned and stared up at Elias. No, he couldn't have said what she thought he did. There was no way. No way at all that she'd spent six months cooped up with the most wanted Jedi, the most wanted felon, the most wanted _anything_ in the entire galaxy.

It just wasn't possible. Captain Dagen was unusual, a little scary sometimes, but the ragtag leader of the resistance against the Empire?

No. She refused to believe it.

Oh, Force be damned, how did she get herself into this mess?

Elias had moved away to shake hands with the older woman. Arden shook her head to clear her thoughts and followed after him.

"He's probably halfway to Tatooine by now," Elias was saying.

"No doubt." The woman finally seemed to notice Arden standing at Elias's elbow. "This must be Arden Veiss."

Arden blinked her eyes several times before responding with a very articulate and sophisticated, "Huh?"

The other woman extended her hand toward Arden. "Myri Antilles. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Dumbfounded, Arden took the woman's hand and let her shake it. "Yeah, same here."

"Wait a second, wait a second," Elias cut in. "How did you know who she was?"

_Just what I was going to ask,_ Arden thought.

Myri gave Elias a pointed look that clearly said, _"Where have _you_ been?"_

"You knew," Elias said after a moment, looking a little betrayed. "You knew all along what we were up to."

"Of course."

Elias groaned. "Ben told you, didn't he?"

Myri just smiled at him. "I knew you'd figure it out eventually." She glanced around the room, eyes falling on Kohr and Ames, then Ulin. "I've been keeping tabs on you from afar. Ben contacted me one time at the beginning of your little mission, asked me to dig up any dirt on Arden Veiss before you took off for Ord Mantell." She smiled at Arden, a cheerful, unexpected smile. "I told him except for a short juvenile record, the girl was clean, and you all shipped out."

"But then how did you know we'd be here today?"

Myri shook her head. "Elias Cain, after all these years, it's like you don't even know me." She placed a hand over her heart. "I'm hurt, I really am."

"Yeah, yeah," the younger girl, Allana, spoke up, winking at Myri. "It's been three days of this. I'm glad you're all here, finally."

Ulin, who had been silent until now, laughed heartily. "Listen to that one! And I always thought you were the quiet type."

Allana stuck her tongue out at him, an act which made her look even younger. "Most of the time, yes, but I can only take so much of the famous Antilles sense of humor." She gestured toward Kohr and Ames to follow her. "C'mon, let's let the grown-ups talk."

"I _am_ a grown-up!" Kohr protested as they disappeared into another room.

"Ah, shut it, you're barely eighteen," Ames mumbled. He closed the door behind him.

Myri looked after them with a hint of something wistful in her eyes. Nostalgia, maybe? "Kids," she muttered, chuckling. "Bet it's been fun sharing a ship with those two boys, huh?" She was talking to Elias, but her eyes were on Arden.

"Yeah, it's been interesting," Elias replied.

Myri jumped suddenly. "Where are my manners? Come on in, we'll go to the commons and get something to eat. I'll fill you in on everything that's been happening."

Uncertain about her current situation but feeling a bit more reassured by the friendliness of their hosts, Arden stayed by Elias's side as they followed Myri Antilles into the common room. She didn't have to forgive him yet for everything that had happened, but she didn't mind being close to him for now.

He was still her boyfriend, after all.

.

* * *

.

Tatooine.

It seemed almost a lifetime since he'd been there, a lifetime since he'd buried his mother and destroyed whatever innocence had remained inside him. Since then he'd crossed the galaxy, visiting even more of those far away worlds a nine-year-old boy had once promised to see. This time, though, his missions weren't ones of peace, but of war.

His mother's eyes, so full of love and pride for her Jedi son… she had not lived to see the irony.

The first time he left Tatooine it was to become a guardian of justice. He spent ten years on Coruscant and any number of planets, learning and training and living alongside Obi-Wan. There were dangers, yes. There were tragedies, but always at the end of each mission, of each trial, there was a light shining out at him, promising rest and sanity and salvation.

After his return to Tatooine three years ago, that light had faded to but a shadow of its former brilliance. The Clone Wars had begun immediately after, threatening to tear the Republic, the Jedi Order, and the galaxy apart. For a while he was able to convince himself that there was hope of victory, that it was even fun sometimes to lead his troops into battle against the droid armies. But as each successive separation from Padmé grew longer, and as more and more of his friends and followers died, the darkness slid through the cracks. It was always there now, whispering to him of things he shouldn't know, as intimate as a lover.

Even here in a future that he could no longer affect, it spoke to him.

Anakin stood with his hands clasped at the small of his back, staring at the splotchy brown surface of the planet growing larger in the viewport. Ben had already slid into the pilot's seat, making the final adjustments for their approach. Anakin remained standing, eyes still fixed on his old home. He'd never realized before how dead it looked. If he didn't know better, he would have thought no life could survive there.

_All things die, Anakin Skywalker._

He inhaled with a sharp hiss. Ben looked up at him, his face impassive.

"Something wrong?"

Anakin shook his head, embarrassed by the slip. "It's nothing, just memories."

Ben nodded slowly, returning his attention to the controls.

With a mental sigh, Anakin allowed himself to drift outward into the currents of the Force. He was still having trouble believing that this was not just a dream, that he wouldn't be waking up to find Padmé next to him. But the evidence was there in the fabric of the Force. It was familiar, yet so different. Nothing was the way he remembered it, and that above all was what told him this was really happening. The Separatists might have been able to craft this elaborate lie with the help of their Sith masters, but no one could change the Force. It moved along its own current, ebbing and flowing with the times. It could be prodded here and there, manipulated by lesser beings. But it could not shift so radically in such a short time.

Whether he liked it or not, Anakin was in the future. His grandson's future.

His _grand_son.

Anakin bent his head toward Ben, suddenly curious. "How old are you?"

Ben laughed without looking up. "Twenty-five standard years."

Anakin groaned. Make that his grandson who was _older_ than him. "This is too bizarre," he muttered.

"Tell me about it."

There was another long stretch of silence as the ship dropped through Tatooine's atmosphere. Despite being in a controlled environment, Anakin could almost feel the air heat up around him. Ben landed the ship on a rocky patch of ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. As he watched the dust settle, Anakin turned to Ben once more.

"When exactly did you realize I wasn't crazy?"

Ben leaned to one side and lifted his bag onto his shoulder. He flipped a switch, and the ship vibrated as the hatch opened. "When we were in the service passage and you said 'Artoo, it's me,' as if he should recognize you." Ben shrugged. "Only a few people ever knew that you once owned Artoo-Detoo, and most of them are dead. I put two and two together." Ben finished powering down the cockpit and nudged past Anakin, heading for the open ramp.

"Wait a minute, so I poured out my life's story for nothing?"

"Not at all." Ben smiled back at him as he ducked under the bulkhead. "I needed a good story to cheer me up."

Anakin couldn't help grinning a little as he moved to the top of the ramp. "You're a funny man. I see you inherited my sense of humor."

"I don't think you can claim credit for that, but if you'd like to try, you can get in line behind my mom. She's got dibs."

"Your mom…" Anakin's voice lost all trace of amusement. "Is she…?"

Ben must have realized what he was asking because he quickly shook his head. "No, she's not yours."

"Oh." And with that last word he felt the full impact of Tatooine's blazing suns as a familiar heat engulfed him. White, blinding light reflected off the sands. Even the smell of the desert was oppressive. There was nothing but sand and rock as far as the eye could see.

"Welcome home," Ben said wryly.

Anakin didn't respond. This wasn't his home. The only thing that had ever made it his home was gone, taken by the Raiders. His heart could only rest when Padmé was near, and Anakin was reminded – for the thousandth time since arriving in this galaxy – that Padmé was gone.

He could never go home again.

.


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

* * *

"Stop," Ben ordered, coming to a halt at the crest of a sand dune. Anakin reached out with his senses, feeling for anything unusual around them. His search was in vain; the desert was eerily calm. He hadn't seen any familiar landmarks. He supposed it was possible that Ben was leading him away from the towns and the native life rather than toward them.

"What is it?" Anakin asked, raising a hand to shade his eyes. He followed Ben's gaze, but there was nothing there.

Ben pulled out a pair of macrobinoculars and fiddled with the settings. "We're coming up on the enclave. Need to make sure it's safe."

"I don't sense anyone nearby."

Ben shook his head, still looking down at the binocs. "That's the point." He held the device up to his eyes, adjusting the dial. His presence was as closed off as it had been since they'd met. It was unnerving.

Anakin extended outward with the Force. Now he felt a faint hint of something, but it was muddled, distorted. Like listening to sounds underwater. "This is a Jedi enclave?"

"Yup."

"And do you usually bring strangers home with you to your secret Jedi base?"

"No. Not usually."

Anakin sighed, wiping sweat from his eyes. "Right. So naturally it will be easy to explain who I am."

Ben glanced over his shoulder at him, frowning. "No one is going to believe that you're really Anakin Skywalker." He returned his attention forward.

"That's understandable," Anakin replied more than a little sarcastically.

Ben finished adjusting the macrobinoculars and scanned the horizon. "The Order has been spread out and in hiding for so long that many Jedi don't recognize each other without introductions. We won't have to hide that you're a Jedi. You can use your first name, too, and if anyone asks, you were named for Anakin Solo."

"Solo?"

"Yes." Ben's presence was still unreadable, but his face betrayed a certain sadness as he lowered the binocs. "He was a hero, a famous Jedi Knight. He died when I was just an infant."

"I see."

Ben smirked. "You want to know if he was named after _you_, right?"

Anakin shrugged. The thought _had_ crossed his mind. "Am I that transparent?"

Ben raised one eyebrow and shook his head, chuckling. "I can see I didn't inherit any modesty from your side. But yes, he was named after you. I guess you must have been pretty well known in your time."

"Well… yes, I am. I mean, I was." Anakin hesitated. There was something strange about the way Ben had phrased that last comment. "But you would know about all that, wouldn't you? From your parents?"

Ben didn't look at him. Instead he waved a hand in the air, slowly weaving it back and forth. Something glinted along the horizon, something that almost looked like a lightsaber blade.

"There are a lot of things I don't know about the past," Ben finally answered. "The galaxy hasn't been a normal place for quite some time." Without another word, he began to plod down the sand dune, walking in the direction of the glint of light.

"Yeah," Anakin murmured. "I get that."

It took about ten minutes to reach the glint they had seen on the horizon. When Anakin came over the last dune, he saw a tan, dark-haired girl standing next to a landspeeder. She couldn't have been more than eighteen, but there was a solemnity about her that made her seem at least as old as Ben. It wasn't until she cracked a smile that Anakin saw a hint of real youth.

"We weren't expecting to see you so soon," the girl said. She glanced over Ben's shoulder at Anakin, but didn't say anything else.

Ben dropped his bag in the back of the speeder and turned to hug the girl. "Me either. Don't tell me you're disappointed?"

"_So_ disappointed." The girl pulled away, her eyes darting over to Anakin once more. Ben must have noticed.

"Kala Di, this is Anakin. We picked him up while we were on our mission."

Anakin nodded politely. "Hello."

"Nice to meet you. The girl glanced at Ben before continuing. "You're a Jedi?"

"I am."

"Oh, well that's good." She seemed relieved. "We need everyone we can get."

Ben sat on the edge of the speeder and lifted himself into the passenger side. "Shall we?"

Anakin got into the back while the girl, Kala Di, took the driver's seat. As they took off, Kala Di turned to Ben. "My mother will be relieved to see you," she said, rolling her eyes affectionately.

Ben laughed. "Why is that?"

"She always worries about you. Especially these last six months. You know how she is."

"Yeah, I know." Ben reclined in his seat and folded his arms behind his head. "Anything else you want to tell me before we arrive?"

Kala Di smirked. "Well, Tahiri's back. She got in last night."

Ben groaned, shielding his eyes. "Great. Thanks for the warning." He looked over his shoulder at Anakin. "You're going to like Tahiri."

Anakin inhaled deeply and nodded. As Ben and Kala Di continued to talk, Anakin watched the desert sweep by, his thoughts turning absently to the objects that lay hidden beneath the dunes. In his youth he had met many treasure hunters who hoped to uncover Tatooine's ancient riches, but few had been successful. The desert rarely gave up its treasures.

He remembered the last day he'd been here, the day he had buried his mother. She was out there somewhere, her gravestone probably claimed by the desert long ago.

The desert heat continued to wash over him, weighing down his eyelids. After a few minutes he gave in and closed his eyes, the sound of the engine lulling him to sleep.

.

* * *

.

Arden sipped her cup of caf and watched the reactions of the others as they listened to Myri's report. Mostly there was stunned silence. At some point, Kohr and Ames had returned with the girl, and they were standing off to the side, lost in thought. Elias kept running his hands over his eyes.

"What do you propose we do?" Ulin said at last, breaking the silence.

Myri took off her cap and laid it on the table next to her plate. "Valin is on his way to Tatooine now, and he and Ben will get the rest of the Council up to speed. We wait here for them to send word. Meanwhile, Ulin, you need to crack that datapad."

"Already on it," Ulin said.

"So we just wait?" Allana asked. "We just wait here while the Sith manipulate those kids?"

"Allana…" Ames started.

"No! How can we even be thinking like this?" She looked at each of them before finally settling her gaze on Arden. "You," she said.

Arden froze, her cup halfway to her lips. "Me?"

Allana moved closer to her. "Isn't this just what the rest of the galaxy expects of us? Tell me honestly, what do _you_ think of the Jedi? You don't trust us."

"That's enough, Allana," Elias said quietly.

"It's _not_ enough, Elias, don't you see? The galaxy thinks we're running scared, and we are! We're going to sit here in safety while the Sith twist innocent children to the dark side."

"We're going to think this through so that we don't make any mistakes and get anyone killed," Elias said sharply. Allana stared down at him, her chin trembling.

"Ben would agree with me," she whispered. "He would try to rescue them."

"He already tried."

There was silence, and then Ames, Allana, and Kohr began speaking all at once.

"_What?_"

"What happened?"

"Is _that_ what we were doing on Ossus?"

The three teenagers continued to ask questions, one after another. In the midst of the confusion, Arden raised her hand in the air.

"Question?"

Everyone in the room stopped talking and turned to look at her.

"Well that's not at all intimidating," she muttered.

Myri chuckled. "Go ahead, Arden."

Arden swallowed. "Can someone tell me what is going on here? For real? Because I'm pretty confused."

Elias and Myri exchanged a look. "The _Daybreak_ was supposed to be off the grid, but I've been keeping tabs on you all," Myri explained. "I contacted Ben about the situation with the children as soon as I learned about it. I warned him that going to Ossus wasn't the best idea, but that kid has a mind of his own."

Arden stared at Elias. "You knew about all this?"

"No. Ben told us we were looking for information that was important to the Jedi, but he wouldn't say what it was. I'm guessing he looked for the children, and when he couldn't find them he went after the data on their whereabouts."

Kohr and Ames looked stunned. "We didn't know," Kohr said. "He told us to keep watch, make sure no one realized we were there."

Ames nodded. "And then that stranger showed up and blew our cover."

Kohr shook his head. "Our cover was already blown, genius."

"Wait a second," Myri interrupted. "What stranger?"

"A stowaway we picked up on Ossus," Elias said, resting his chin in his palm. "When the Sith caught up to us on Heibic, we left him with Ben."

"Why?"

"Because that's what Ben wanted. Apparently the guy knows how to use a lightsaber."

Arden looked up to see Allana giving Elias a death glare.

"Did it not occur to you," Allana said slowly, "that this stowaway was a Sith?"

Arden laughed, more out of nervousness than anything else. "That would be pretty ironic," she said.

"I don't see the irony."

Elias put a hand on Allana's shoulder. "The man was crazy. He kept claiming he was Anakin Skywalker."

"Who ended up becoming a Sith," Arden finished.

Allana looked as though she'd just eaten something sour. Kohr held up his bag of datatapes. "I've got the recording, if you want to take a look."

Myri rubbed her hands together. "Well, I've got to see this."

"Yeah," Allana said. "Me too." She snatched the bag out of Kohr's hand.

"Hey!"

As the others stood up and followed Allana and Kohr out of the room, Elias leaned close to Arden. "Can we talk?"

Arden stared down into her mug. "Don't you need to tend to your Jedi business?" she said quietly.

Elias closed his hands around hers. "It can wait."

Arden shook her head and pulled her hands away. She didn't want to shut him out; she wanted to forgive him. He was a Jedi, yes, but he was still Elias.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "Go. Sounds like you guys have more important problems."

"Arden…"

She couldn't look at him. She couldn't take that hurt expression on his face. "I'm not going anywhere," she said. "I'll still be here when you're done. I just need some time to think."

"Okay," he said. "Okay. I'll be right in the next room."

Arden nodded up at him, eyes averted. She heard the swish of the door opening and closing behind him. Satisfied that she was alone, Arden allowed a few tears to slip down her cheeks.

.

* * *

.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Huh?" Anakin squinted up into the light, his head buzzing. He massaged his temples, letting his eyes adjust to the brightness. It took a couple of seconds before he saw Ben's face hovering over him. His grandson was staring at him intently.

"Heavy sleeper?" Kala Di asked from the driver's seat.

"No," Anakin mumbled, holding his hand to his forehead. "Not usually."

Ben studied him for a moment. "You must have really been exhausted. You were out cold. We're coming up on the enclave now."

Anakin sat up in his seat and looked over Ben's head. Ahead of them was a cluster of crude tents, no more than twelve in all. Kala Di brought the speeder to a halt at the periphery of the enclave. While Anakin surveyed the scene, Ben and Kala Di jumped out of the speeder, grabbing their gear.

"You two are welcome to come have dinner with us," Kala Di said as she anchored the speeder to the nearest tent.

Ben gave her a half-smile. "Thanks for the offer, Kala Di, but I think Anakin and I are going to eat on our own."

"Okay, but you're going to miss out." She turned away, opening the tent's front flap.

"Maybe another night," Ben answered. His voice remained nonchalant, but as he met Anakin's eyes, his expression darkened. "We've got some things to discuss."

Kala Di waved and disappeared into the tent.

"Come on," Ben said. "I'll show you around."

As Anakin followed Ben into the encampment, the first thing he noticed was that there were children everywhere, and very few adults. The children stared at him openly; the adults acted as though he wasn't even there. The youngest children were playing in the sand or running between the tents. Most of the older children were sparring, some with metal rods, others with their bare hands. Ben stopped in front of one of the smaller tents and watched as two little girls levitated a set of wooden blocks in the air.

"This is just one of our enclaves," Ben said, eyes still on the children. "We have to keep our numbers as small as possible to avoid detection."

Anakin turned away from the girls and ran his fingers across the textured cloth of the tent. "More like a camp. This isn't permanent, is it?"

Ben shrugged and started walking again. "Nothing's permanent. We make do. The less civilized we seem, the less anyone pays attention to us."

"I suppose that makes sense." The tents reminded him of another camp on the sands of Tatooine. "Don't you ever worry about the sandpeople?"

The dry laugh that scratched its way from Ben's throat seemed to spring from some ancient source. It sent a barely perceptible shudder through Anakin's body.

"They don't bother us," was all Ben said.

Anakin closed his eyes and smelled the wind that swept between the tents. "I used to live just east of here."

Ben nodded and wiped sweat from his cheek, looking around the camp. "Mos Espa. The Sith razed it to the ground after two Jedi were found under the protection of some locals." He smiled at a little blonde girl as she scurried by. "So we stay out here."

"Even after what happened?" It was hard to imagine that Mos Espa was just… gone.

Ben gave another one of those vague, noncommittal shrugs that Anakin was becoming accustomed to. "They had no reason to suspect we'd stay here after being the cause of so much destruction. But the Jedi have evolved. We're no longer quite what the Sith expect." He smiled at Anakin – not the warm, inviting grin of a joke shared between comrades, but the sly, arctic smile of a patient predator circling its prey. It startled Anakin to see that look on a Jedi's face. For a moment, the memory of Palpatine's face as he revealed his true identity returned with full force.

"_You will be able to save your wife from certain death."_

How could he not have seen it? How could he have gone all those years without knowing the truth? Was all of this his fault? His family had survived, obviously, but the rest of the galaxy had fallen to the Sith. He should have been able to stop it. Why hadn't he?

The little blonde girl came running by again; Anakin stared at the tracks she left in the sand.

"Hey," Ben said. His expression had changed; now it was more tired than anything else. "You okay in there?" Before Anakin could answer, Ben jerked his head toward a group of people who were busy sparring. "Come on, I'll introduce you."

Anakin pushed the doubts and fears down, pushed them deep inside where no one would sense them, and put a smile on his face. "Lead the way."

.

* * *

.

Darth Dominius surveyed the welcoming party as he stepped onto the landing pad. At the head of the group of soldiers stood a tall, lean Zabrak female, the tips of her horns barely visible underneath long black hair. Dominius could sense that she was puzzled by his return, but she hid it well.

"Welcome back, Lord Dominius," the Zabrak said softly, bowing her head. "We thought you were returning to Coruscant."

Dominius regarded her coolly. "Tressk and Jadyk were injured during our pursuit. They require medical attention."

"Of course." The Zabrak turned to the soldiers. "You heard Lord Dominius."

"Yes, my lady," they replied in unison.

Dominius watched them leave. "There has been a change of plans, Lady Varice. I will be leading the hunt for the Jedi."

"I was not informed—"

"I am informing you now. You will meet me in the council room at twelve hundred hours. Bring Lady Misra with you."

Varice bowed again. "As you wish, my lord."

As Dominius brushed past her, he glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "Tell your brother I look forward to his speedy recovery, Lady Varice. I'm sure he'll want to personally thank his assailant for that new bionic arm."

She appeared surprised at his sudden candor. "That is all he has been able to talk about since you left, my lord." She bowed again, lower this time. "I shall return with Lady Misra within the hour."

"Very good." He was most anxious to renew the Jedi Hunt. Most anxious indeed.

.

* * *

.

Arden sat in front of the safe house's holoproj, watching as it ran a series of HoloNet news updates. Apparently there was an illegal public assembly being crushed on Obroa-skai, an economic crisis on Mygeeto, and a reported Jedi raid in the capital city of a planet whose name she couldn't begin to pronounce. The reporter ticked off each incident as though he were talking about the weather. He was like her; he had become used to the grim reality of the Sith Empire. Such crises had become a fact of life over the last several years. Arden was no longer surprised by the reports.

The door to the next room opened, and Kohr came out, giving Arden a tight smile. He joined the others who had already emerged from the room. Ames and Allana were sitting together on a couch, talking in hushed tones. Ulin sat at a computer terminal, deaf to the world as he tried to crack the datapad's encryption. That left only Elias and Myri in the other room. Arden wondered what they were talking about. Jedi stuff, probably. Things she would never be able to understand.

The door slid open again, and this time Myri came out. She looked at Arden and jerked her thumb toward the doorway. "Go on in," she said, smiling warmly.

Arden nodded and stood up, turning off the holoproj as she did so. She crossed the room and stopped in front of Myri. The older woman tilted her head slightly to the side.

"Go easy on him, okay?" She smiled again and walked away, leaving Arden alone in the doorway, Elias was sitting at a round table inside the room, looking completely shamed. Arden closed the door behind her and sat down next to Elias. No sooner had she made contact with the chair when he blurted out his apology.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Arden, I was stupid, I—"

Arden put her fingers to Elias's lips, silencing him. "Let me start, all right?" she said quietly.

Elias nodded.

"Good. Now, what did Myri say to you?"

He looked surprised, but he met her gaze directly. "That I'm an idiot. That I shouldn't have lied to you for so long. That I'm damn lucky to have found such a nice girl."

"She did _not_ say that."

"She did!" Elias insisted. "I'm serious, she told me I shouldn't have waited so long to tell you the truth, especially since it's so obvious I'm in love with you."

Arden blinked several times. "What?"

It seemed to take Elias a few seconds to realize what he'd just said. "I'm in love with you," he said again, softer this time.

Arden thought she had cried herself dry earlier, but her eyes grew moist. "What do you want me to say, Elias? I don't even _know _you."

"I'm still me," he said, placing a hand over his chest. "Being a Jedi doesn't change who I am."

"Being a Jedi _is_ who you are. You're Elias _Cain_. You're Ben Skywalker's sidekick." She stood up and walked to the other side of the room, where she began pacing. "Do you know how many times in the last seven years I've heard your name connected to a bombing or a raid or assassination attempt?"

"I know, but I promise you, that wasn't me."

"You're saying you were never involved in any of those things?"

Elias took a deep breath. "We're not evil, Arden," he began. "We don't try to kill innocent civilians." He paused for a long moment and dropped his gaze to his lap. Arden's throat tightened.

Elias finally looked back up at her. "But I won't say it never happened."

The tears she'd been holding in check started to flow. Elias stood and made a move to go to her, but he seemed to think better of it.

"Those stories are lies," he insisted. "The Sith fabricated most of those attacks and blamed them on us. But there have been accidents, a couple when I was younger…" He let out a frustrated sigh. "We didn't plan things through; we underestimated the Sith, and people died. I didn't mean for it to happen. We were trying to save our friends. But that doesn't make me any less guilty."

Arden leaned against the wall and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I don't know anything about the Force, Elias. I've never been able to understand why your feud with the Sith had to involve the whole galaxy. But I know you're not a bad person." She saw Elias relax a little at those words.

"I'm so sorry, Arden."

"I know you are," she said. "But I don't know if that's enough. You knew I didn't trust the Jedi. Right from the beginning you knew. And you let me believe you were just like me, just another person trying to stay out of the Empire's way." She sniffed back more tears. "I let you in. I trusted you. Why couldn't you trust me, too?"

Elias took a few steps toward her and stopped just outside of arm's reach. "I don't have a good reason. I guess I just got used to living the lie. I couldn't tell you at first, obviously. But by the time I could trust you, I was too afraid of losing you."

Arden shook her head. "You know, that's really childish. It's not up to you to keep me around. That's my decision."

Elias seemed more bothered by this than she would have thought. "You're right," he said quietly, his voice breaking a little. "You know, the Jedi have an old saying about fear, about it leading to the dark side. I was afraid, and it clouded my judgment. I'm sorry."

Arden considered him for a moment. For most of her life, she had lived in fear of anything related to the Force. She had vivid memories of the civil war and how it had served as a launching point for the more personal war amongst the Jedi. She still remembered Jacen Solo's chilling speech the day he took control of the Galactic Alliance. But she had never heard of a Jedi apologizing for his actions, and certainly not doing it more than once. She knew Elias was sincere, knew it somewhere deep inside her. Could he really be the only one?

"You know this isn't going to fix everything between us," she said after a moment.

"I know, and I completely understand if you never—"

"_But_," she interrupted, "I'm willing to stick around and find out what the hell is going on with you people." She raised one eyebrow, waiting for his reaction.

Elias gave her a grateful smile and reached out to take her hand in his. She allowed it.

"Does 'you people' include me?" he asked, trying not to smile too wide.

Arden let out a heavy breath and shook her head. "I must be out of my mind, but yes." She cupped his chin in her palm and leaned in to kiss him lightly on the lips.

Elias laughed and pulled her into the tightest hug of her life. "It's a good thing you're such a forgiving woman."

"You don't know how lucky, buddy." Arden squeezed in return. "Now, I'm guessing you'll need help if you want to rescue these kids, right?"

He leaned back to get a better look at her. "You… you want to help?"

"Of course," Arden said. "I may have a natural distrust of the Jedi, but I know the Sith are bad news. No child deserves to be raised by them."

Elias pulled her close once more and kissed the top of her head. "You don't have to worry either, because I'll protect you. No matter what."

Arden grinned and closed her eyes. "Believe me, after seeing those little lightsaber tricks of yours, I don't doubt it."

.


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

* * *

Anakin had spent the better part of an hour following Ben throughout the camp, being introduced to the children and a few of the adults. Despite the fact that many of the children were orphans, they seemed relatively well-adjusted. Some of the youngest ones followed after him, laughing as they tugged playfully on his robes. Anakin didn't mind their attention, occasionally making faces at them; he could tell from Ben's reactions that he had not expected him to be good with kids. Again, Anakin wondered what had happened in this time to make Ben so cautious around his own flesh and blood.

Ben led him toward a group of teenagers who were sitting on the sand, eyes closed. "These are the older apprentices," his grandson said with a gesture.

Anakin surveyed the scene. "Padawans?"

"Sort of. There aren't enough masters for all of the children, so we do the best we can." Ben nodded at a middle-aged blonde woman standing with a dark-haired girl. "Karanya over there is Kala Di's mother. She has another daughter and a son, too. Right now she trains both her daughters."

Anakin let out a low whistle. "Yoda would never approve."

"Yoda's not here."

The woman, Karanya, caught sight of them and began walking toward them.

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes," she said, smiling brightly.

Ben smiled in return. "Karanya, I'd like you to meet Anakin. We picked him up on our journey. Anakin, this is Karanya Nal."

Anakin extended his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

"Please, no formalities. Call me Karanya." The woman must have been very young when she had Kala Di. She looked to be around Obi-Wan's age. "I see you prefer the traditional robes?"

Anakin looked down at his tunic, then over at Ben. "Um… is that bad?"

Karanya shrugged. "I don't know where you're from, but most of the Jedi we know like to be as discreet as possible." She eyed the robes again and grinned. "Although I must say, that style would have stood out even before we went into hiding."

Anakin gave her a half smile in return. Yes, the outfit certainly had stood out. Some Masters had thought his color choice to be evidence of a more disturbing trend. Maybe he just liked colors that didn't immediately remind him of sand.

Karanya turned to Ben. "Kala Di tells me you turned down our dinner invite?"

Ben ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I've already got plans. Sorry."

"Oh, that's okay. You know you're always welcome though."

"I know." Ben kicked the sand. "Hey, is Tahiri around?"

"No, she went off into the desert last night, almost as soon as she got here. I think she wanted time to meditate alone." Karanya looked past Ben. "Hey, Valin!"

Anakin turned to see a brown-haired man walking toward him. The man raised a hand in greeting. As he came closer, a small child emerged from behind him. She clung to the man's pant leg, silent.

Karanya leaned down and smiled at the girl. "Hi, sweetie." When the girl shrank behind her father, Karanya smiled and looked up at Valin. "When did Tahiri say she'd be back?"

"She's on her way now, but she's about two hours out." The man glanced at Ben. "Myri says hi, and she wanted me to tell you that Ulin is still working on the datapad." He grinned. "According to her, 'there's a crazy huge level of security on this piece of junk.'"

Ben groaned. "Any idea how long it will take?"

"Ulin says a day, maybe two."

"Perfect," Ben said, shaking his head. "Just perfect." He paused for a moment before gesturing toward Anakin. "Sorry. Valin, this is Anakin. We picked him up on the way here. Anakin, meet Valin Horn."

Valin shook Anakin's hand. "Nice to meet you." For a moment, Anakin thought he saw a strange look in the other man's eyes.

Karanya spread her arms wide. "Well, I guess we've got some time before this datapad gets cracked. I'd better get back to Dira." She smiled warmly at Anakin. "It was very nice to meet you."

The three men watched her walk away. Ben turned to Anakin and gave him a wry grin. "Overwhelmed yet?"

Anakin mentally counted off all the people he had met that day. "Almost," he admitted. "But I think I can manage one more." He kneeled in the sand and leaned his head to one side, seeking out the child hiding behind Valin. "May I?" he asked.

Valin nodded. "Be my guest."

Anakin held a hand out to the girl. "Hi. I'm Anakin. What's your name?"

The little girl looked up at Anakin with big, dark eyes and smiled timidly. "My name's Carin, and I'm this many." She held up six fingers and giggled.

Anakin let his jaw drop. "You're six! Boy, when I was six I wasn't nearly as grown up as you!"

The girl's face lit up as she took a couple steps forward and gripped Anakin's hand. "Would you like to come over to our tent? I'm helping Daddy with dinner!"

Valin put a hand on his daughter's shoulder and drew her to his side. "That's enough, Carin. I'm sure Anakin already has plans. Why don't you go find your brother?"

The girl lowered her head. "Yes, Daddy." Without another word, she took off across the camp, kicking up sand behind her. Anakin watched her disappear into the waning light.

"She's usually very shy," Valin explained quietly, not quite meeting Anakin's eyes. "Like her mother." The melancholy on his face was unmistakable. He sighed and gave Anakin a half-smile. "Do you have someone waiting for you back home?"

The emptiness again. The feeling of unfamiliarity, of being alone in a galaxy where nothing was the same, not even the fabric of the Force.

"I did."

Valin nodded. "I'm sorry."

Anakin tried to smile, but found that he couldn't. His thoughts turned once again to all of the strange changes that had taken place in this time. Ben had said he would tell him everything eventually. He hoped it was sooner rather than later.

Ben stepped closer to Valin. "Did you bring the boys with you?"

"Yes, Tahiri asked me to. They're back in my tent, sleeping."

Ben raised one eyebrow. "Tired from the trip?"

Valin chuckled. "They couldn't sit still for two seconds the whole trip, and as soon as we got here they crashed."

"Why am I not surprised? Okay, well, Anakin and I are going into the desert for a while; if you hear anything from Myri about the datapad, let me know right away."

Valin clapped Ben on the shoulder. "You got it. Be careful out there."

Anakin watched his grandson adopt a pose that looked eerily familiar. His head tilted slightly, Ben gave Valin a wry grin and said, "I always am."

As Valin headed off in the same direction as his daughter, Anakin glanced sidelong at Ben. "Taking me somewhere special?"

Ben crossed his arms over his chest. "I am indeed. You know how to ride a swoop?"

Anakin shook his head. "You really _don't _know anything about me."

"Right, I forgot. You raced those pod things." Ben raised an eyebrow at him. "All right, follow me."

"I can pilot a lot of things," Anakin mumbled. He followed Ben as the other man began to walk. "And it's called a pod_racer_."

Ben waved his hand in the air without looking back. "Whatever you say, Gramps."

.

* * *

.

The desert was very still tonight.

Oh, no doubt there was a sandstorm brewing on the eastern edge of the Dune Sea, or a herd of dewbacks disrupting the otherwise peaceful evenings of farmers near Mos Eisley. But here, in the Jundland Wastes, all was quiet. Even cruising near top speed on her swoop bike, Tahiri Veila could sense the absolute calm of her surroundings.

She hadn't expected it. In a way, it worried her. In her mind, stillness made the Jedi presence even more obvious. Maybe that was why she preferred daylight on Tatooine. When everyone else was awake, she imagined that their lifeforces were like a shield around the tiny Jedi enclave. It was a silly notion, but one that gave her some level of comfort. She knew she shouldn't worry; the protection she and the other Masters had put on the camp was strong enough.

For now.

The stillness probably wouldn't have bothered her so much if it hadn't come on the heels of several small disturbances in the Force. Alone, they might not have caused much concern. But they had come one after another, first the ripples from the Inner Rim – the attack on Denon, most likely – then that strange, fleeting distortion of the Force somewhere inside Sith space. Now a strong yet unfamiliar presence had come with Ben to Tatooine, and she had to wonder if all these events were connected. Could it be that this stranger Ben had picked up was the reason for the calmness of the desert? Or was she simply reading too much into a peaceful evening?

She'd only been away from Tatooine for a few weeks, checking on the other enclaves, but it seemed much longer than that. There was never any guarantee that she would make it home; each time she left, she wondered if it would be the last time. She was thankful to be here. She was thankful for the sand and the dry desert air and the tents full of younglings that had survived until she could return to them.

She was especially thankful that nothing had happened to the two boys in Valin's care. Yes, they were safe aboard the _Errant Venture_, but she'd had the niggling feeling that they needed to be _here_, on Tatooine. Perhaps it had something to do with the string of disturbances she'd sensed.

Or maybe she just missed them too damn much.

The suns were already descending fast toward the horizon. She would barely make it to the enclave before nightfall. Tahiri leaned slightly forward in her seat and listened once more to the stillness.

She kept getting the feeling that something big, something important, was about to happen. The question now was whether it would be revealed in a sudden, Force-driven explosion of clarity, or if, like every other sentient in the galaxy, she would have to wait for the answers.

.

* * *

.

Lord Dominius sat across the conference table from his lieutenants, Darths Varice and Misra. Alone in the room, just the three of them, he was reminded of his old history lessons and the tales of the ancient Sith Triumvirate. It had been a flawed system, made up of three incredibly powerful Dark Lords. If Dominius were to resurrect the Triumvirate – hypothetically, of course – he would probably choose these two women as his co-rulers. They were more loyal to him than Sith usually were, and they were not without their gifts. Darth Varice was the polar opposite of her younger brother, Raze; she was calm and calculating, as cunning as she was beautiful. And then there was the fair-haired human, Misra, who possessed a brutal command of the Force and the physical strength to back it up. Yes, they would make for an interesting Sith Triumvirate, if nothing else.

Dominius leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingertips together. Varice and Misra were suitably surprised by his announcement. They exchanged glances before looking over at him.

"You're certain it was Skywalker? He is quite adept at disguising himself. Might it not have been a decoy?"

Dominius was not offended by Lady Varice's doubts. It was merely her way, asking so many questions. She liked to be thorough.

"I am certain of it," he replied. "He may be able to hide from the Force, but he cannot hide from me. I would recognize that face anywhere."

"And it's true that you will be renewing the Jedi Hunt?" Misra scratched at the polished surface of the table, but her eyes were locked on Dominius.

"The decision was made shortly after Denon; Skywalker's reappearance simply pushed our plans up a bit." Dominius gave Misra a sly smile, baring his sharp white teeth. "So to answer your question, yes."

Misra glanced over at Varice and shifted ever so slightly in her seat. "You know how angry the twins will be when they learn that you are leading the Hunt."

Dominius was a patient man, but the thought of those two young upstarts made his usually cool reptilian blood boil just a little. For now, he held his feelings in check. "Ferrus and Festus are the least of my concerns, Lady Misra. You will inform them that they are to remain on Vjun for the time being. No doubt we will be meeting them there soon enough."

"You don't think Skywalker will be foolish enough to actually go there, do you?" Varice was young and hadn't had as much experience with the foolhardiness of the Skywalker line.

"I know that he will be, Lady Varice. And he will be expecting to fight us, too. But for now, let us see if we can't track down any more of their secret enclaves, shall we?"

Varice pulled out a datapad. "The trail went cold after Heibic. We have no new leads."

"What about the information from Denon?"

"The only salvageable communications equipment was a subspace transceiver. It's likely that the Jedi have already changed their frequency, but I think it would be worth our while to continue monitoring subspace using this device."

"The original report mentioned an illegal HoloNet transceiver."

Varice sighed. "That would have been quite a find for us; however, the Jedi destroyed it during the attack."

Dominius stroked the end of his chin with his long fingernails. "Very well. What have you discovered from the subspace logs?"

"A team of Lessers has been following the leads from the logs, but so far they've all been dead ends. We think the Jedi might be using couriers to relay their messages. It would explain why we're having trouble tracking them."

"Or," Misra interrupted, "they might not be in contact at all. Perhaps they've truly isolated themselves from each other, and the transmissions from the Denon enclave have nothing to do with Jedi business."

"No," Dominius said, standing up from his chair. "They were in contact. Skywalker knew what happened there." He paced across the room and pressed a button at the end of the table. A hologram of the galaxy appeared above their heads. "This is what we know," he said, zooming in on the portion of the Inner Rim where Denon was located. "The Jedi hid on a heavily populated planet at the intersection of two major trade routes. We have always assumed this was their strategy: hide amidst a crowd, and no one will notice you."

Varice and Misra were silent, watching him pace.

Dominius zoomed out and shifted the map, focusing in on a single planet. "It was the same on Arkania several years ago. With hundreds of billions of lives, we nearly overlooked Katarn's secret base." He let his hand fall to his side and stared at the glowing blue map.

"My lord?" Misra said after a moment. "Are you saying that's not the reason?"

"We've monitored communications, restricted the HoloNet, spread our web of spies across the Empire and into Alliance space. None of it has worked. Before Organa Solo died, the Jedi were at least more willing to come out and fight us, but now… now they keep to the shadows." He shook his head. "They've learned a thing or two from us, I'm afraid. It's time we stopped thinking like conquerors and started thinking like the old Sith."

"Hide under your enemy's nose," Lady Varice murmured.

Dominius turned to her, eyes wide. "Yes, yes… for a millennia, the Sith hid in the most obvious places. Sidious lived on Coruscant; he kept himself in plain sight! We have the right pieces, but we've been putting them together the wrong way." Dominius shifted the hologram back to Denon. "Here. Denon is good for drowning out Force signatures, but it's also near the border of the Empire. We would never have expected our enemies to be hiding there. They were practically standing right in the center of a potential invasion corridor! Arkania was also directly in our path."

He could feel his skin warming; his pigmentation was already changing from cool green to a light shade of orange. But he couldn't help himself; to think that they were making some kind of progress after years of fruitless searches. And he had to admit, it felt good to be focusing on the Jedi once more. He had missed the Hunt.

"Lady Varice. Lady Misra." He forced himself to settle down and looked from one woman to the other. "The arrival of the Jedi on Vjun is imminent. I expect some of us will be sent there to welcome them. In the meantime, however, I want both of you to go through all the data from Denon, keeping in mind what we discussed. Even if we manage to capture Skywalker and Cain, we will still need to find the other enclaves."

"We understand," Misra said, bowing her head.

"Unless I say otherwise, you are to commit yourselves entirely to this task."

"Yes, my lord."

As the two women turned to leave, Dominius waved Varice over. "Tell Raze to be ready; when I leave for Vjun, I want him at my side."

The Zabrak nodded. "As you wish, my lord."

.

* * *

.

Ben left the Jedi enclave at a modest three hundred kilometers per hour, not quite top speed for the old Zephyr-G swoop he was riding. He felt Anakin behind him, but as the camp grew more distant and the desert swallowed him whole, Ben drowned everything else out. There was only the sound of the wind, the sting of sand, the fading heat from the suns. Despite the incredible vastness of the world around him, Ben didn't feel overwhelmed. For the first time in weeks – probably months – he felt some measure of peace.

For a long time he wasn't sure that he got the same thrill from flying as most of the rest of his family, and after a while he realized that he didn't. He was a Skywalker who didn't get excited at the idea of taking off for places unknown or dodging laser blasts in a dogfight. He did, however, enjoy the solitude, the feeling of disconnect he got whenever he flew. For a little while, he could forget about everything that had gone wrong in the galaxy. He could forget about what it was he had to do once he stopped this swoop.

He really wasn't looking forward to that. Not one bit.

_Ben had started to untie two of the parked swoop bikes when he noticed Anakin standing off to the side, looking as though he wanted to say something._

"_Problem?"_

_Anakin glanced over his shoulder. There was no one in sight. "Not exactly," he said, taking a step toward the swoops. For the briefest moment, Ben thought he saw tears in Anakin's eyes. "Is your father my son?" he finally asked._

_Ben had always assumed Anakin Skywalker was unaware of his wife's pregnancy at the time of his fall. From their discussion aboard the _Daybreak_, it was clear now that he_ had _known; but did he sense that she was carrying twins? Hadn't Dad mentioned once that Vader was surprised to learn of Aunt Leia's true identity?_

_What if Anakin went back tonight? Ben didn't know how this time travel stuff worked, and he had no way of knowing if and when Anakin would return to his own time. If he was still going to become Darth Vader, it would be a fatal mistake to tell him about Aunt Leia. The less he knew about the future, the better._

_Unless Ben decided to tell his grandfather everything. Every terrible secret._

"_Ben?"_

"_Sorry." Ben looked over at him and blinked. "Is my father your son?" He tried not to look too confused. "Who else would he be?" _

"_I mean, I'm not your _great_-grandfather or anything like that, right?"_

"_No, just a regular grandfather." Not that he'd ever known what one of _those_ was like. "And yes, he was your son."_

_Everything around Anakin – the air, the Force itself – seemed to go still. "Was…" he murmured._

_Ben nodded. "Yeah." He led his swoop away from the others. "Come on. There's something I need to show you."_

Ben gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the handlebars. So much for serenity.

It was supposed to be a fairly long trip across the Jundland Wastes, but for Ben it passed by all too quickly. The first of the twin suns was setting when he spotted their destination up ahead. He signaled to Anakin and began to slow down. The small, synstone hut nearly blended into the rocky surroundings, but Ben would have known it anywhere. He'd spent many long hours here over the last few years. Beyond the structure, he saw the top of the _Daybreak_. Artoo must have already gone inside the hut.

This was where it had all started. _Well_, Ben thought, _from a certain point of view._ In many ways, his father's journey had begun here. In many other ways, Luke Skywalker's path had been laid out long before he set foot in old Kenobi's hut. Ben still wasn't sure if the results of his father's life were a matter of destiny, bad decisions, or just plain bad luck.

The home had long since been gutted of anything useful by scavengers, but it would provide shelter enough while Ben talked to his grandfather. Ben parked his swoop next to the crumbling hut and waited for Anakin to join him. The younger man had already dismounted and was standing at the edge of the precipice, his eyes closed as a gentle wind ruffled his hair.

"Everything in this galaxy feels so different now." He shook his head and looked over his shoulder at Ben. "But Tatooine is still the same. The only place that feels right."

Ben tried to smile. "Not everything stayed the same."

Anakin cocked his head to one side as if listening to music only he could hear. "Jabba's gone."

This time Ben cracked a grin. He kept forgetting how long it had been since Anakin had stepped foot on this planet. "Strangled to death by my aunt during a rescue mission."

Anakin nodded and looked back at the hut. "Who lived here?"

"My father's first mentor," Ben answered. "I was named for him, in a way."

"In a way?"

"He changed his name to Ben when he came to Tatooine. 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' was too much of a giveaway, I guess."

Anakin didn't even try to hide his shock. "_Obi-Wan_ lived here?"

Ben nodded. "A long time ago."

Anakin reached out and ran his fingers along the rough exterior. "What happened?"

"It's a long story." A long and terrible story that he wasn't sure he could tell properly, especially not to the man who was responsible for so much of it.

"I have time," Anakin replied.

Ben looked out at the twin suns, the first one already dipping far below the horizon. "You may not be ready to hear it."

"I need to know." There was something in his voice that forced Ben to meet his gaze.

Fear.

The setting suns cast a mixture of gold and purple light across Anakin's face. Ben stared at him for a long moment, the sadness he carried in his heart rising to the surface. He wished he could promise his grandfather that everything turned out fine in the end, but it just wasn't true.

And by the look in the other man's eyes, he could see Anakin already suspected part of the truth. Holding back the rest would be an insult.

"You'd better come inside."

Anakin followed Ben into the hut as the first sun disappeared from the sky.

.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

* * *

Vjun was a dark world.

It wasn't just the constant presence of ominous clouds or the never-ending drizzle of acid rain, although these did provide an atmosphere conducive to dark thoughts. No, it wasn't just the sky that made Vjun a world of nightmares; it was in the soil, in the blood of the surviving population. The mad inhabitants of this planet had corrupted it, twisting it into something wholly different, something crazed and malicious and desperate.

Darth Festus loved it.

He was human, and young. Large blue eyes peered out from a pale, gaunt face. He had the appearance of an aristocrat or one of those tragic heroes the holofilms were once famous for, and he looked perfectly at home in the gloomy mansion that served as their headquarters.

His brother, on the other hand, was not quite so comfortable.

"We shouldn't be here," Darth Ferrus muttered, leaning forward in his chair. He was like a distorted mirror image of his brother: same blue eyes, same dark hair, but taller, more muscular, and not quite so pale.

Festus levitated a datapad in the air before him. He spun it around slowly, watching the dim light reflect of its shiny surface. "I don't mind it," he said.

Ferrus scowled. "Well of course _you_ don't. You'd probably be content to spend the rest of your life in this hellhole."

Festus tilted his head toward his brother and quirked one eyebrow.

Ferrus sighed. "It does suit you."

"Thanks." Festus let the datapad drop into his hand. "You know I'm not any happier than you about constantly being passed over." He looked off into space as his voice grew quiet. "I would love to be out there hunting the Jedi. But you heard the Master."

"I know, I know. Our work here is _very_ important."

"And he did say that we would see the Jedi soon enough. They may end up coming here after all."

Ferrus stood from his chair and began to crack his knuckles. "I just hate having to wait for Dominius! He's always trying to keep us out of the loop."

"Usually I would agree with you, brother, but this time I suspect he is simply following orders. When the Master wants to reveal his plan, he will. Until then, we continue with the experiment."

Ferrus shuddered. "Again, one more reason I'd rather be somewhere else. I'll never understand your interest in Doctor Mezzon's experiments."

"There's a lot you don't understand."

Ferrus frowned. "What are you watching?"

Festus angled the datapad toward his brother. "See for yourself."

Ferrus grabbed the device and sidled up next to his twin. The screen was just big enough that he could make out two figures. Doctor Mezzon was one of them, and he was standing over a table where a young Mon Cal was strapped down, squirming violently. The doctor held a scalpel up for the Mon Cal – and the camera – to see.

"Gross," Ferrus said, thrusting the datapad away from him. "And you, too."

His brother's smile was a wicked thing to behold. "You're always trying to flatter me."

Ferrus made a dismissive noise and returned to the chair opposite his twin. "I still don't approve of this whole thing," he mumbled. "Even if they _are_ technically Jedi."

Festus began to spin the datapad in the air once more. "How fortunate for the rest of us that we don't have to wait for your approval." He sent the datapad flying toward his brother's head. Ferrus snatched it out of the air with his left hand and made an obscene gesture with his right.

The comm unit on the wall crackled. _"My lords?"_

Festus bowed his head in mock reverence and gestured toward the comm. "After you."

Ferrus rolled his eyes. "What is it, Yaanis?"

"_Priority message from Coruscant, Lord Ferrus."_

The brothers exchanged a knowing look.

"Patch it through."

.

* * *

.

Artoo was waiting for them inside Kenobi's hut, taking his customary place in front of a round, wooden table. The table – along with a few other pieces of furniture – was a recent addition to the old hut. It was Tahiri who had decided they should fix the place up, back when she and the other Masters had chosen Tatooine as one of their enclaves. Ben had even helped her repair the roof and clean up the mess left by scavengers. It wasn't exactly cozy, but it was livable.

Ben ran his fingers across Artoo's dome as he passed by; he received a happy chirp in response. Ben took a seat on what might have once been a bed and watched his grandfather enter the dwelling. Anakin had to duck his head coming through the main archway, and he looked a bit uncertain as his eyes swept the room. Ben wondered if he was picturing Obi-Wan Kenobi eating here, sleeping here, maybe even dying here.

Again, Ben felt the weight of secrets on his shoulders as he waited for Anakin to sit down. There was so much to tell, so much that his family had endured. How could he even begin? What exactly could you say to a person who had tried to destroy the galaxy?

_Tell him who he is._

They were his own words. For years, Ben had hoped he might hear a different voice – one of his parents, or his aunt even – whispering guidance in his ear. But it had never come, and the only voice he heard in there was his own.

"I spent most of the speeder ride wondering how I would start this conversation." In his ears, his words sounded almost too calm, too detached. Ben frowned and continued. "Like Artoo said, it's been forty-seven years since you died, and a lot has changed."

Anakin nodded. He was hunched forward, forearms on his knees, hands clasped tightly together. Ben noticed that his grandfather's left leg had started to shake.

"I figure we're going to have to come to it sooner or later," he said, trying not to stare at Anakin's nervous shaking. "So, I might as well start at the beginning."

Deep breath.

_Say it._

"You turned to the dark side. I don't know when, exactly, and I don't know why or how. We believe it happened at the end of the Clone Wars."

Stars, why was his voice so _calm_? And why was Anakin still staring at him as though he hadn't heard a word? Ben swallowed.

"The reason I don't know more is because the Emperor hunted down all the Jedi and did his best to erase them from public memory. That includes you; only a few people knew that you were once Anakin Skywalker. Everyone else knew you as Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith."

He couldn't go on, not until he got some kind of reaction from his grandfather. The leg had stopped shaking, but apart from that, Anakin was deathly still, positioned the same way he'd been when he first sat down.

_Didn't you hear me?_ He wanted to scream it, slap Anakin in the face with it. _Say something…_

Anakin took a long, quiet breath, his eyes narrowing at the floor. What Ben wouldn't give to know what was running through his head. Sadness? Shock? Disbelief? Anakin lifted his eyes to meet his. Then it clicked.

"You're not surprised."

Anakin looked away a little too quickly. "He told me." His voice was soft and strained. "Before I came here, he told me he was a Sith Lord, the one we'd been looking for."

"Palpatine."

Anakin nodded, still looking away. His expression was bitter. "Darth Sidious. My _friend_."

Ben felt that last word like a punch in the gut. If he hadn't already been sitting, he probably would have needed to. "Friend?"

Anakin looked up at him, and for a second, Ben thought his grandfather might get down on his knees and beg forgiveness. "I met him when I was nine," Anakin explained, his tone touching on pleading. "He's watched out for me since then."

Ben paused before answering. But of course, that made a perversely beautiful kind of sense, didn't it? Who would ever suspect that their mentor might betray them?

_Must be a trend._

"It makes sense," he murmured.

"But how could no one have known? I'm the poster boy for the war effort, my face is everywhere!" Anakin was standing now, pacing across the room. He stopped dead and turned to face Ben. "And what about Padmé?"

The first part was probably the easiest to explain. "You fought Obi-Wan Kenobi, and you lost. You were forced to wear full body armor to stay alive. Your face was concealed, and your voice was altered by the mask. You must have had replacement limbs, too, because you were as tall as a Wookiee in your armor."

Anakin flexed his gloved right hand. "But what about _Padmé_? And the baby?"

Ben took a deep breath. _Come on, Dad. Give me something here._

Silence.

Ben exhaled. "It wasn't just the one baby, Anakin. She was carrying twins." He held up a stopping hand as Anakin's eyes went very, very wide. "Again, I don't know the details, but at some point she went into hiding and gave birth. The twins were separated so that you wouldn't be able to find them."

Anakin practically fell against the closest wall. "Twins?" His voice was weak. "There's going to be two?"

"There _were_ two."

Anakin faltered for a moment, but he pressed his lips in a grim line and continued. "What are their names?"

Ben hesitated. This was the part he wasn't so sure about. If his dad and his aunt were compromised, the galaxy was doomed. On the other hand, if his aunt survived, she might still have children… and they'd be right back to square one.

"I wasn't sure if I should tell you all of this. For all I know, you could return to your time and still end up as a Sith. Only this time around you'd have information that could destroy any hope of saving the galaxy."

Anakin slid down along the wall into a seated position, eyes never leaving Ben. "Please," he whispered.

Force, what had he gotten himself into?

"I suppose," he said, "if you're going to truly understand just how screwed up things have gotten, you need to know the truth."

_Or the version of it that I see fit._

_Stop it._

"My dad was Luke Skywalker. He was brought here, to Tatooine, to be raised by his aunt and uncle. Obi-Wan watched over him from afar, waiting for the right time to train him as a Jedi. That's why he was living here." Ben indicated the sparse interior of the hut.

"The other baby was a girl, my aunt Leia. Her mother took her to Alderaan, where she was raised as Bail Organa's daughter."

"And Padmé?" His grandfather's single-mindedness was a bit disturbing in this instance.

"She died while Aunt Leia was still young. I'm sorry, I don't know more."

Anakin was strangely silent; Ben wondered if this was how he always took bad news. Darth Vader had apparently been famous for acting out rather violently when things did not go his way, but Anakin was almost the opposite. If anything, he was internalizing everything, turning inside himself. Ben felt his stomach tighten as he realized that maybe he and his grandfather weren't so dissimilar.

"_When you look in the mirror, what do you see?" They are his father's words, spoken to a ten-year-old boy. _

"_It depends," he answers. "Sometimes I see a Jedi. Mostly I just see me, though."_

"_What else?" His father always knows when he is withholding. He waits silently for two minutes before Ben answers. _

"_Sometimes I see the dark side."_

"_In you?"_

"_No." He remembers the mirror and what he saw there. "Waiting for me."_

As strange as it seemed, Ben would have felt more comforted if Anakin had just thrown a temper tantrum or something.

"My dad couldn't remember her at all," Ben said after a moment, bringing himself back into the here and now. "He and Aunt Leia grew up without knowing the truth about you. They didn't even know they were twins."

Anakin leaned his head back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. For a moment, Ben felt as though he were intruding on a private conversation; it reminded him of the few times he had caught his mom or his aunt having a one-sided conversation with his dead father.

At least he'd always assumed it was one-sided. They never told him if Dad answered.

It was several seconds before Ben realized Anakin was crying. He had expected this reaction earlier – much earlier, in fact – and somehow the delay had thrown him off.

"You did turn back, eventually," Ben said as gently as he could, given the circumstances. "Took over twenty years, but you finally killed Palpatine and saved my dad in the process."

—_arms wrapped around him, pulling him away as he kicks and screams and cries—_

—_a gentle yet firm mental touch— _

—_a goodbye, and a shock wave in the Force so powerful that it swallows everything around it, including Ben's heart—_

He could still feel Jag's arms and Jaina's hands, alternately pulling and pushing. He could still remember the way his knees hit the floor when they reached the ship. He could still hear blasterfire and sirens and Mom screaming through the comlink.

_Maybe that's my family's curse: a line of fathers destined to die for their sons. _

Anakin's brow was deeply furrowed. The tears had already been wiped away. "But if I killed Palpatine, then why are there…?" He trailed off as understanding dawned. "You still have more to tell me."

Ben nodded. "A lot more."

.

* * *

.

Anakin listened for nearly two hours as Ben described, in excruciating detail, the changes the galaxy had undergone since the time of Darth Vader. Anakin learned that his children had eventually been reunited and become galactic heroes. He learned of Obi-Wan's death, and Yoda's. He learned of the New Republic and the dangers his children had faced as they tried to rebuild what their father had destroyed. He learned of the alien race that had brought the New Republic to its knees. There were some familiar names and places – he discovered at last what had happened to _Outbound Flight _and Vergere and Zonoma Sekot. There were grandchildren and Jedi and so many deaths. There were more Sith.

He realized as he listened that there wasn't anything he could say or do that would ever make things right. He was fairly certain that any attempt at an apology would elicit little more than a cynical remark from Ben. And he would deserve it, too. He deserved to be scorned and hated.

_You shouldn't even be feeling sorry for yourself_, he told himself. There was so much loathing in that inner voice.

_I know. Gods, don't you think I know?_

Anakin had done his best to sit still and listen as Ben turned what was left of his world upside down. His grandson would pause every so often just to stare at him. It reminded Anakin a little of being nine again and standing in front of Yoda and the rest of the Council, as though there was something inherently _wrong_ about him that needed discovering. Ben's eyes were a different shade of blue than the ones Anakin saw every day in the mirror, but there was an intensity to them that he recognized from his own reflection. And he would stare and stare, and Anakin tried not to wither under his gaze, twisting his fingers together until his left hand was nearly numb.

He had allowed himself to remain hopeful, which was a mistake. He'd thought there couldn't be anything worse than the Emperor or these Vong creatures, but there was. His name was Darth Caedus, and he was a personal betrayal of everything Anakin's children had fought for. Bad enough that Anakin had become a Dark Lord of the Sith. But then his grandson had followed in his footsteps, and everything that might have been salvaged was instead destroyed.

It all started when Jacen was captured by the Yuuzhan Vong, Ben explained. They had broken a part of him – _Vergere_ had broken a part of him – and he had never really healed. His fall was a slow one, thirteen years in the making.

For Anakin, it was not all that unfamiliar a story.

The worst part of it all – at least in Anakin's mind – was what Jacen had done to his family before he died. Ben skimmed over the details of his parents' deaths, but Anakin heard enough to know that his son had died saving Ben from Jacen. Ben's mother – who had apparently known Vader in her youth – died a couple of years later. Jacen's twin sister had been the one to finally defeat him, but at the cost of her own life.

Anakin wasn't sure he wanted to know what had happened to his daughter.

They had been sitting in silence for several minutes when Anakin finally gathered enough courage to ask Ben a question.

"Do you have any holos of them? Of my children?"

Ben glanced at Artoo, who until now had very quietly been sitting off to the side. "Yeah, we have a few." He jerked his head toward the table, and the little droid rolled forward. "All right, Artoo. I need you to pull up that collection of still-holos I programmed. Start with Aunt Leia."

Artoo warbled a sad reply and began to cycle through a series of images. The tabletop and the air around it glowed blue.

Anakin swallowed hard as four images displayed in a constant loop. The holos of Leia showed a middle-aged woman whose striking beauty was tempered by war, worry, and too many sleepless nights. He could see hints of Padmé in her face and her eyes, but she was different. Her features were sharper, more commanding. Had she known where that came from? Had she known that she shared her penetrating stare with the man she once loathed to call her father?

He stared at Ben, as if gazing long enough would allow him to see backward in time to a place where his Leia was innocent and carefree. His voice cracked as he spoke. "How did my daughter die?"

Ben shifted uncomfortably. "Bravely," he murmured. "And she took four of those Force-damned Sith with her. Not the students but the full-fledged Lords." He pressed his fingertips together and stared down at them. "She glowed. Tahiri said my cousin Anakin glowed like that before he died. She was… frightening to look at." Ben spoke carefully, as if remembering something too terrible to be expressed in words. "I think in those last moments, she was probably one of the greatest Jedi I'd ever seen." He gave Anakin a wry grin. "And I've seen my share, believe me."

Anakin nodded and looked away, lifting his fingers to the edges of the holoimage. Artoo stopped on the first hologram, one in which Leia was staring past the recording unit, a faint smile on her lips. Her hair was pulled back and coiled at the base of her neck, and she wore a pale tunic and dark pants with a belt slung low on her hips. A lightsaber hung from one of the belt clips.

He had done this. He had killed her. It was his fault the Sith had survived, his fault that there were not enough Jedi to stop the Yuuzhan Vong and the dark side from ripping his family apart. Everything that had happened to the galaxy, to his children, to Ben… it was all because of him.

"Can I see my son?" he asked quietly.

Ben nodded and placed a hand on the droid's dome. "Artoo?"

The little droid hesitated, turning his sensors toward Ben.

"I know you miss him, Artoo. Please."

The droid swiveled its dome back toward the table, and a blue-edged image of an older man appeared before them. As he had done with Leia, Artoo cycled through a few holos of Luke, repeating them over and over. Anakin watched in awe as he looked at his son, older here than Obi-Wan, almost as old as Qui-Gon had been when Anakin had first met him. This was the son Padmé had been so sure about, the one she'd been dreaming of as he grew in her womb. His hair was mostly gray, and there were lines etched deep in his skin, but his face was kind. There was even a faint hint of mischief in his eyes.

Anakin felt a swell of pride. If everything Ben said was true – and he had no reason to doubt him – Luke had been everything his father should have been. He had been brave and true. He had been compassionate and selfless. Yes, he had touched the darkness over the years, but he hadn't been consumed by it. And yet… and yet Luke was forced to watch his friends and family perish, was forced to sacrifice his own life to save Ben and the others. It wasn't right. It wasn't _fair_.

How much suffering could he have prevented, simply by refusing the dark side?

"Thanks, Artoo." Ben sat there silently as Artoo shut off his projector. The light from the moons spilled through the slits that served as windows, illuminating the room enough for Anakin to make out Ben's features. Anakin twisted his hands together, staring at the place where the holos had been.

"Do you have any others?" he whispered.

"I have a few more, mostly of my parents and me," Ben replied, "but I lost most of them when we went on the run. That's why I started putting them in Artoo – to have a backup." He glanced away for a moment. "I destroyed some of them when I was younger, too. Anything with Jacen in it." Ben shook his head. "It was a stupid impulse. I lost a lot of holos of my cousins and my aunt and uncle that way."

"I can understand why you'd want to be rid of him."

"Yeah, well, I regret it now. I could have shown you what Aunt Leia was like before all this happened."

Artoo chirped at Ben and activated his holoprojector.

"Artoo, no—"

But the droid interrupted Ben, reassuring him that it was okay. Anakin wondered what kind of holo would worry Ben. Maybe he thought Anakin was too emotionally drained to handle any more ghosts from the past?

The hologram was somewhat grainy. It began with a flicker of static, then settled into the shape of a girl standing upright in a long, white gown.

With a jolt, Anakin realized who he was looking at.

"_General Kenobi. Years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire."_

She was young, perhaps younger than Anakin himself. Her regal bearing, her measured voice; it was so painfully reminiscent of Padmé. He wondered if Leia had picked that up from her before she died.

"_I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack, and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed…" _

While Leia continued her message, Anakin noticed that Ben was leaning forward, mouth open and eyebrows raised. Anakin turned his eyes back to the image, consumed by it.

"…_This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."_

Artoo shut off the projector. Anakin felt a shiver along his spine at the sound of Obi-Wan's name on this girl's lips. And then there was the mention of her father – it hurt to know she was referring to Bail Organa and not to him, that _he _was the one she was running from.

"I've never seen that before," Ben murmured. "I mean, I knew about it, but I guess it never occurred to me that Artoo would save it."

"That was the message that brought them together?"

"Yes."

"How old was she there?"

Ben looked down at his fingers, counting under his breath. "Nineteen."

Nineteen? That was even younger than Anakin, and several years younger than Padmé. Nineteen! And Ben said she'd already been a senator for a year before sending this message.

He knew he didn't have any right to be, but Anakin was proud of his daughter. She had accomplished so much, doing things for the galaxy that he could hardly imagine. And she had done it while facing almost constant war and the loss of her family, one by one. She was truly her mother's daughter.

Anakin had always known that the combination of his Force potential with Padmé's brains and good looks would make for some impressive babies.

"What are you smiling about?"

Anakin looked up, horrified. "Am I smiling?"

"Yep."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Don't worry about it." Ben dismissed his concern with a wave. "You've got to find something to be happy about if you're going to avoid falling to the dark side."

"If you're trying to cheer me up, I've gotta tell you, you're doing a terrible job."

For the first time since leaving the camp, Ben smiled. Really smiled. "We should get some rest. I think it's past your bedtime, Gramps." There was a mischievous glint in his eyes as he said with mock concern: "It has to be taking a lot out of you, trying to keep pace with a young kid like me."

"Okay, you claim that you get your sense of humor from your mom, but I'm telling you, that is a Skywalker trait right there."

"Maybe you should take the bed. Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself sleeping on this hard floor—"

"You're just asking for it, aren't you?"

.

* * *

.

The Sith Temple had been built atop a natural spring of pure Force energy, and when the rays of the setting sun hit it, it gleamed particularly fierce. The obsidian center spire of the temple stood taller than all others near it, and light seemed to bend and refract around it so that as bright as the rest of the building shone, that single tower remained bathed in shadow.

It was from this point that Darth Krayt looked down on the capital of his empire.

He had known it by a few names, though Coruscant was still the one he liked best. The people of this world had struggled to reproduce that which had been destroyed or disfigured by the Yuuzhan Vong, but they couldn't remove all evidence of the invaders. Darth Krayt had a sense for all things Yuuzhan Vong. He had, after all, been their prisoner, subject to their experiments and their Embrace of Pain. The experience had left a lasting impression. The vonduun crab armor he wore now seemed to enhance that impression. Whatever it was, he could _feel_ the flora and fauna of Yuuzhan'tar that lay in the city's underbelly.

The Sith Master turned away from the viewport as the doors to his chamber opened. Light spilled into the room, illuminating the empty throne. Krayt stepped away from his perch and descended the steps, stopping one step above the officer and the child who had entered the room.

"Leave us," Krayt ordered.

The officer saluted before turning crisply on his heel and exiting. Krayt watched him go.

"You look strong today," he said once the door had closed.

The little boy was six years old, with dark blonde hair and a cherubic face that contrasted sharply with the military cut of his black uniform. He bowed his head. "I feel strong, Papa."

Krayt smiled. "I am glad to hear it. The medics said you were very ill." He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I told them my son would not be weakened by a mere virus."

The boy nodded his head. "I did the healing thing, like you showed me."

"Excellent. I am pleased with your recent progress." Krayt drew the boy closer. "But now I have a new task for you, the most important you have ever been given."

"I won't fail you, Papa," the child replied, brown eyes bright with anticipation.

"I know you won't. Now come with me, son. We have much to discuss."

.


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

_He was standing on the edge of the cliff, the outline of the rocks below just visible in the fading light. Padmé's cries were softer tonight, coming to him from across a great distance, perhaps coming to him across seventy years. _

"_Anakin!"_

_Her muffled plea tore through him like a knife, but he knew – in a way beyond knowing – that nothing he did would end her pain._

_The tears came hard and fast, but he remained motionless on the cliff, watching the dark water below. He could feel the dragon near him, as though it was perched on his shoulder, waiting, its dead weight resting on his soul._

Jump,_ the voice whispered. _Just let go.

_The wind clawed at him, pulling him toward the edge. He tried to reach for a railing, a rock – something to keep him anchored. His fingers raked uselessly through the air._

_The voice laughed. _Still afraid to fall?

No! _He tried to scream it, to hurl it at the dragon, but it was swatted aside by the wind._

Surely you understand by now,_ the dragon continued. _All things die, Anakin Skywalker.

All things die.

_He began to fall. _

_._

* * *

.

Anakin awoke to the sound of R2-D2 chirping and tweeting like a bird. It was several long seconds before he realized the droid was attempting to sing.

"Ah, come on, Artoo," he mumbled, cracking one eye open to look for the little droid. The room was dark at first, and Anakin wondered if it was still night or if the apartment's shades had malfunctioned again. "Padmé…"

A short beep.

Anakin tilted his head back to see Artoo roll into the room. He filled the width of the doorway, which looked a bit different than he remembered.

"Oh," he murmured, staring into the droid's optic sensor. Artoo didn't respond; he returned to the other room, leaving Anakin to stare numbly at the synstone walls of Obi-Wan's hut.

He rolled into a seated position, legs spread out in front of him, head cradled in his hands. He had that crushing feeling around his heart again, the same thing he'd felt last night as Ben related detail after horrible detail. The same thing he'd felt as he stood in the Council chamber, making the decision that would damn him for all time.

Anakin looked up, and Artoo was positioned once again in the doorway.

"Still not going to talk to me?"

The droid was silent. Anakin could hear the steady whir of servos as he rotated his dome a quarter turn in each direction.

Anakin sighed. "Not that I blame you." He rubbed his knees with the heels of his hands. "But you're the only friend I've got here."

Artoo made an impatient noise and wheeled away; Anakin saw him heading for the open front door. He followed him outside to where Ben was sitting on the edge of the precipice, his legs dangling over the side. The suns were just coming over the horizon.

"Did you sleep okay?" Ben asked without looking back. There was little in his tone to suggest that he actually cared how Anakin had slept.

"I think it's been days since I really slept." It felt like much longer than that. He hadn't realized until arriving here just how _tired_ he was.

Ben looked over his shoulder and nodded. "I believe it. You looked terrible." He eyed Anakin for a moment, a small grin creeping around the corners of his lips. "Well, you still look terrible."

Anakin frowned. "Thanks."

Ben swung his legs up over the edge and stood up, dusting off his pants as he did so. "We should head back to the enclave."

"You think that datapad will be cracked soon?"

Ben shrugged. "Maybe, but mostly I don't want to miss Karanya's breakfast. She and her daughters cook for everyone in the mornings."

"They don't cook dewback eggs, do they?" Anakin had eaten them only a couple of times when Watto was in a particularly good mood after a day at the races, and they remained one of his favorite foods.

"Sure, they cook them. It's not like we can just go into town and buy the regular stuff anyway."

Anakin grinned. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

They sealed up the old hut and mounted their swoops. The return journey didn't seem nearly as long as the trip the night before, and after a few short hours, Anakin and Ben arrived at the edge of the Jedi camp. Children were just starting to filter out of the tents, most of them bleary-eyed and yawning as they trudged toward Karanya's tent.

"I thought after breakfast we might have a little sparring practice," Ben said as he tied his swoop down. Anakin looked away from the children and steered his bike into the open stall next to Ben's.

"Sounds good to me—"

"Ben!"

Anakin turned in time to see Ben stagger backward from the force of two children flinging themselves at him.

"Whoa there, guys, let me breathe!" Ben laughed as he tried to disentangle himself. "You two are getting too big! Next time you do that you'll probably knock me over."

As if on cue, the two children – both boys – threw themselves into Ben's arms a second time. Contrary to his prediction, he did not fall over, but it did seem to require every ounce of balance and strength to keep himself upright. Ben set the boys back on the ground and held them at arm's length. "All right, that's enough for now. I'd like you to meet a friend of mine."

He turned the boys around, and Anakin finally got a good look at their faces. The boy to Ben's right had wavy brown hair and big brown eyes that were looking up at him in open awe. The boy standing to Ben's left had even darker brown hair and green eyes set in a face that was far too controlled for someone so young. Anakin felt his chest constrict as he stared down at them.

"These are my cousins," Ben said, hands on the shoulders of the two boys. "This is Davin," he said, nodding at the boy to his right. He turned toward the green-eyed boy. "And this is Dolan. Boys, this is Jedi Anakin."

Davin looked up at Ben, his eyes still wide. "Like Uncle Anakin?"

Anakin kneeled in the sand, putting himself at eye level with the boys. "I was named for him, actually. It's a pleasure to meet you both." They were so young, younger than he'd been when he left Tatooine.

"How come we've never met you before?" Dolan asked, studying Anakin with unnerving intensity.

Ben frowned and squeezed Dolan's shoulder. "He's been hiding, just like the rest of us. You know that."

"O_kay_," Dolan said, shrugging off Ben's hand.

Anakin felt an irrationally strong urge to gather the boys in his arms and hug them for as long as they would allow it. These were the children he had heard about the night before, the sons of his granddaughter Jaina. Part of him was in them, and part of Padmé, too. He thought of the last time he'd seen Padmé, how sad she had seemed. She hid it well, but he'd sensed it underneath, not only sadness, but fear and guilt as well. He thought he could fix everything because he was the Chosen One and because he loved her and they were going to have a family. The dull ache in his heart exploded with fresh pain.

Davin and Dolan looked at each other and then up at Ben. Their cousin smiled at them. "Run along, you two."

"It was nice to have met you," Davin said quickly as he and Dolan turned and ran off.

Anakin stood and watched them leave. "They're very perceptive."

Ben looked over his shoulder and stared at the path the boys had made in the sand. "It runs in the family." He turned and met Anakin with a smirk. "But to be fair, you weren't really hiding your feelings very well."

"You don't think they realized—"

"No, I doubt it. Besides, I barely believe it myself." He fixed Anakin with a pointed stare. "You'd better not go telling them."

"Of course I won't!"

"Okay, okay, just reminding you, that's all." Ben glanced over his shoulder. "So how about that breakfast?"

Meeting the twins had made him forget about food, but now that he thought about it, he _was_ starving. He could even smell those dewback eggs. "Just show me the way."

.

* * *

.

The cerulean-colored blade sizzled to life little more than a centimeter from Ben's throat. It shouldn't have been so close; after all, Anakin had been on the ground less than a second ago, his saber deactivated and flying out of his open hand. He shouldn't have gotten up so fast, but he did it anyway. Ben ducked to the side and planted his left hand on the soft sand while kicking out with his legs. Somehow his boots connected with Anakin's chest and sent him stumbling backward, long enough for Ben to jump to his feet and charge.

His father had once told him that Darth Vader was one of his toughest opponents, not because of his technique – which was certainly impressive, especially for a person wearing several kilos of armor – but because he kept on coming, no matter what was thrown at him. A juggernaut in the fullest sense of the word.

As Ben watched Anakin regain his footing and hurtle forward to meet him, he realized just how true that was.

Their lightsabers connected hard, the green and blue blades sparking angrily under the pressure. "I guess you're pretty hard to kill," Ben said over the noise.

Anakin leaned into his attack, using his height to force Ben's saber down. "I get that a lot." He batted Ben's blade aside and swept his own in a diagonal line from his hip. Ben took a step back and raised his lightsaber just in time to block. "But I'd rather not test that idea too thoroughly."

Ben smirked. "Am I getting too close for comfort?"

Anakin weaved his saber through a rapid series of blocks; his motions were fluid but powerful, and he batted away each of Ben's attacks as though they were mere annoyances. "You wish," his grandfather said.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ben saw Valin and a few of the children approaching the circle. He definitely did not want to lose in front of the kids. They would run off and tell Davin and Dolan, and he would never hear the end of it.

Silly as he knew it was, that was all the motivation he needed.

"Now watch, because I'm only going to show you this once." Ben swung the lightsaber from his right shoulder, and was met instantly by Anakin's blade. Without pausing, Ben deactivated his weapon, sidestepped to the left, and smiled as a bewildered Anakin pitched forward. Before his grandfather could correct, Ben tackled him to the ground, sending sand flying in every direction.

When the dust settled, Ben was sitting on Anakin's back, pinning his arms down. He was well aware of the very smug smile on his face in that moment, and he absolutely didn't care who saw it. Beneath him, Anakin grunted.

"You know, I do lose occasionally. It's not like you accomplished anything special."

Ben looked down at him. "Believe me, Anakin. I most certainly did."

"Fine, just get off already. You're crushing my lungs."

Ben stood up and waited while Anakin picked himself up. "Sorry."

Anakin coughed a few times before dusting himself off. "Stars, you're heavy."

Ben handed Anakin his lightsaber and smacked him none too gently on the back. "You're hurting my feelings, really." He looked over at the edge of the circle where the children were staring at them open-mouthed, some of them whispering in each other's ears. Ben noticed Valin's son, Savl, grinning and tugging on his father's sleeve. Ben left Anakin and jogged over to the others.

"Feel like getting your hands dirty?" he asked Valin.

"Against you? No thanks, I don't feel like embarrassing myself."

"Naw, I'm done for now. I think Anakin could go for another round, though."

Valin looked past Ben and shook his head. "I was watching, you know. He's really good."

"You're telling me you can't handle a kid fifteen years younger than you? Come on, Horn."

Valin removed his jacket and handed it to his son. The boy was flush with excitement. "Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret this?"

"Because you're a very negative person."

"I am not."

"Quit stalling."

Valin scowled and leaned closer to Ben, eyeing the children as he did so.

"Can you at least get rid of _them_?" he whispered.

Ben turned to the group of children. "Don't you all have lessons to attend to? I think I hear Master Nal calling for you."

The children giggled and scampered off; only Savl Horn remained.

"That means you, Savl."

The boy waved at his father before running after his friends.

"Thanks, Ben." Valin began rolling up his sleeves. "Although I probably won't be thanking you when this is over, win or lose."

Ben pointed at the center of the ring where Anakin was waiting. "Would you just go already?" He laughed as Valin scowled and jogged over to his opponent.

"Ben Skywalker."

He bent his head and smiled to himself as Tahiri joined him at the edge of the circle. "Still alive, huh?"

He didn't have to look at her to know she was smirking. "For now, it seems."

"You know, you'll probably outlive us all."

She put her hands in the pockets of her long, sandy brown trench coat. "I sincerely hope not."

There was silence after that. They watched as Valin and Anakin shook hands and started stretching.

"I thought you and your crew were supposed to be deep undercover." It was not so much a question as it was a reminder.

Ben folded his arms across his chest and kept his gaze on Valin and Anakin. They were circling one another now, lightsabers drawn. "Myri contacted me about the situation. She's been keeping tabs on us since we left."

"Please tell me you weren't the ones who invaded the Sith headquarters on Ossus."

Ben rubbed the back of his neck. "You heard about that."

"Of course we did. Myri told me everything."

_Everything?_ Ben licked his lips and took a long breath. He had a feeling he knew where this was headed.

"Myri mentioned you had a stowaway." Tahiri jerked her chin toward Anakin, who at that moment was pushing Valin back toward the opposite side of the circle. "That wouldn't be him, would it?"

Ben didn't respond. He watched as Anakin's lightsaber slipped under Valin's and knocked it up in a high arc. Valin didn't lose his grip, but he took three steps back to regain his footing.

Tahiri sighed, and Ben was struck by how old that sigh made her sound. "Who is he, Ben?"

He wondered how much he should tell her, how much he _could _tell her without her thinking he was insane. Tahiri was one of the few who always knew when he was hiding something. Ben lowered his gaze to the sand. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

In the practice circle, Anakin was somersaulting to avoid a powerful swing. He landed behind Valin and reached his blade over his shoulder to block the next attack. Before Valin could finish striking, Anakin ducked and threw his hands out, knocking his opponent into the air with a wave of energy. Valin landed on the ground several meters away. Ben thought he heard him mutter, "No fair."

"You think he's your grandfather?"

"_What_?" It was out of his mouth before he had time to prepare an answer, and he knew – both by the shock in his voice and the look on Tahiri's face – that he had given himself away.

"Why would I think that?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because that's who he claimed to be, and instead of locking him up or dumping him somewhere in an escape pod, you brought him here and let him use a lightsaber." She stared at him expectantly. "Myri watched the tape, Ben. She told me about your interrogation." Her voice took on a slight chill. "What happened after you disconnected the camera?"

"_Nothing_. I just didn't want Elias's girlfriend to see me using the Force, that's all."

Tahiri nodded and looked away. "Don't see why you'd need to use the Force in the first place. At least not in any way that would be obvious."

"Okay, so I may have roughed him up a bit. But as you can see, we're all one big happy family now." Ben mentally kicked himself. He really hadn't meant it to come out that way. Thankfully, Tahiri either didn't notice the slip – unlikely – or she chose not to acknowledge it.

"I don't think you're crazy," she said after a long moment.

"Yeah? You might be the only one."

Ben thought Tahiri might try to argue with him, but instead she nodded toward the ring where Valin was once again picking himself off the ground.

"He's very powerful. Reminds me of your dad."

Ben quirked one eyebrow at her. "But not me? What are you saying, Tahiri?"

"I didn't mean it as an insult. It's just… I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's a lack of restraint, an openness about him. He has a lot of power and emotion, like your dad."

"Again, not me?"

"Come on, Ben. Do you know how hard it is to get you to talk about _anything_, let alone your feelings? Face it, kiddo. You take after your mom in that department."

Ben didn't say anything; in truth, he didn't know what to say when someone commented on how he resembled his parents. He'd stopped knowing what to say a long time ago.

"That's not a bad thing, you know." Tahiri's voice had lost most its edge. "I always admired that about Mara. You might say I've tried to emulate her." She returned her gaze to Anakin. "We're just different, is all. We don't wear our hearts on our sleeves. We protect ourselves."

Ben wondered if that was where Anakin had gone wrong. Maybe he hadn't guarded his heart enough. Maybe he had let everything in until he was too full to contain it anymore.

Ben was lucky, he supposed. As a baby he had naturally distanced himself from the Force. Closing off his mind or disappearing from the Force had always been less of a trick and more of a talent for him than it was for the other Jedi.

"I guess it's easier when you're born that way." He glanced at Tahiri sidelong. "Or made that way."

Tahiri made a dismissive noise. "The Yuuzhan Vong didn't make me this way, Ben. I made myself. I _chose_ how to deal with what they did to me, just like you could choose to be more open, if you wanted."

"You're saying I should?"

"I'm saying it's your choice. I don't care whether you keep everything bottled up inside or share every single feeling you've ever experienced; just don't go blaming things on something that happened to you when you were a baby."

Ben leaned over and nudged her in the arm. "When did you get so wise?"

Tahiri gave him a wry grin. "Someone had to fill in the gap."

Inside the circle, Valin was sitting on the sand, arms wrapped around his knees. "I'm done," he called out, gasping for breath. He glared at Ben. "I'm really mad at you, Skywalker."

Ben laughed. "I'm sure you are."

"Very mature of you," Tahiri said. "Picking on your elders."

Ben tried not to roll his eyes at the word "elders" being used to describe a man who was barely middle-aged. "Hey, I've been the responsible adult for the last six months. Cut me some slack."

"Clearly we have different ideas about how responsible adults behave."

Ben made sure Anakin and Valin were looking the other way when he stuck his tongue out at Tahiri. She shook her head.

"Right, because that's so much more mature."

Valin and Anakin joined them before Ben could respond. Both were sweaty and grimy, Valin especially with half his face still coated in tiny granules of sand.

"Feeling better about yourself?" Ben asked Anakin.

"Maybe a little." His eyes traveled from Ben to Tahiri. Ben grinned.

"Anakin, this is Tahiri Veila, the one I told you about."

"Told what about?" Tahiri interjected.

"Just that I thought you two would get along."

Tahiri sighed and extended a hand to Anakin. "I'm really not as intimidating and awful as he tries to make me sound. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too. And he didn't say you're awful."

She turned her green eyes on Ben. "Well, wasn't that sweet of him?"

Anakin hesitated a moment before releasing her hand and turning toward Ben. "You ready for round two?"

"After the beating you took earlier? I'm not sure you could handle another round. Although I think I'd prefer to keep the score where it is for now." Ben's comlink beeped, and he lifted it to his lips. "Go ahead."

"_You've got an encoded message coming in."_

"Thanks, Kala Di, I'll be there shortly." He put away the comlink and looked at the others. "I'd say playtime is over."

.

* * *

.

It had been little more than a day since they'd arrived at the safe house, and Arden was already more stir-crazy than she'd been in six months on the _Daybreak_. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was literally surrounded by Jedi, or that she had absolutely nothing of use to do. Ulin was working on the stolen datapad, Myri was doing something that looked important, Ames and Allana were sitting with their heads together on the couch, and Kohr was fixing everyone a late breakfast. Elias claimed that he was meditating, although Arden suspected that he had actually fallen asleep about fifteen minutes ago. That left her alone, twiddling her thumbs and trying not to stare at the others.

"Dammit!" Ulin let out a string of expletives, a few in some other language. His shouting jarred Elias out of his meditative state and earned several concerned looks from the rest of the safe house's occupants.

"Sorry," Ulin said, cheeks turning red. "Thought I had it… stupid code." He muttered something unintelligible before burying himself once again in his work.

Elias yawned and stretched his arms over his head. "That was refreshing."

"I'm sure it was," Arden replied, not quite sure if he was talking about his nap or Ulin's outburst. Elias walked over and dropped himself into the chair next to hers. He took her hand and began tracing circles along her skin with the edge of his thumb. Arden smiled.

"Food's ready!" Kohr announced cheerfully as he emerged from the kitchen. In the corner, Allana giggled and whispered something in Ames's ear before jumping out of her seat. Arden saw Elias's eyes narrow a fraction as Ames got up to follow.

"Hey," Elias said, catching Ames by the elbow. He waited until Allana went through the kitchen door. "If you want to learn seven uncommon and interesting ways the Force can be used to inflict pain, then by all means, keep it up."

Ames stared down at him, his face completely blank. Kohr appeared over his shoulder, grinning.

"What he's saying is Ben's gonna kill you."

"No, not _kill_. He'll…" Elias paused to give his response some thought before giving up and shrugging. "Well, he won't kill you."

Ames's face paled. "We weren't doing anything! We're just friends, I swear!"

Kohr disappeared and reappeared over Ames's other shoulder. "If by friends you mean you're in _love_."

Ames rounded on Kohr, but the older boy was already running to the other side of the room where he ducked behind Myri. Ames chased after him, and the two disappeared into the conference room.

Arden stared after them, eyes wide. "What was that all about?"

Elias grinned. "Ames has a crush on Allana. I like to mess with him."

"I don't get it."

"She's Ben's apprentice. More importantly, she's his cousin."

"Ah. That explains a few things." Arden looked up to see Allana standing in the doorway opposite the conference room.

"Where'd they go?" the girl asked.

Elias, Myri, and Ulin – who was still furiously typing away at his computer – all pointed toward the open doorway of the conference room. Arden heard something fall over as the two boys continued to scuffle.

Myri looked up from the datapad she was examining. "They better not break anything, that's all I'm saying." She resumed reading as though nothing had happened. Allana groaned and returned to the kitchen. Arden watched her leave.

"Why is she here?" she whispered to Elias. "If she's Ben Skywalker's apprentice, why isn't she with him?"

Elias rubbed a hand over his face. "It's complicated with them."

"Seems like everything is complicated when you're a Jedi."

Elias made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. "It's even more so with them."

"I guess that means you won't tell me?"

"I'm not sure I can. It's—"

"Complicated, I know." Arden leaned back in her chair. "Maybe some other time, then. But tell me this: what are these seven ways of inflicting pain?"

Elias grinned. "No clue. Tahiri used to threaten Ben and me with it all the time when we were younger, though."

"Who's Tahiri?"

"Tahiri Veila. She was my master, sort of. Not in the traditional sense; we moved around way too much for there to be any traditional Jedi training. I learned from a lot of people, but Tahiri was the main one, the one who watched out for me."

"Will I get to meet her?"

"If you want to."

Before Arden could respond, she saw Kohr, Ames, and Allana walk out of the conference room. Kohr seemed to be nursing his left shoulder, while Ames tried to conceal a slight limp.

"Did you break anything?" Myri asked from across the room. Her eyes were still on the datapad.

"_No_," Ames said sourly. "Nothing in there to break."

Myri looked up, her head cocked to one side. "I'm sure I can find something."

Ames rolled his eyes and groaned. "Are we almost done here? Because I would honestly give anything to _not_ be stuck on this moon anymore."

Myri made a clicking sound with her tongue. "Geridan Ames, I never knew you were such a whiner."

"I am not—"

"Your wait's almost over," Ulin interrupted.

The entire room went silent as Arden and the others directed their attention to the computer terminal. Ulin was holding up the stolen Ossus datapad.

"Contact Ben and the Council," he continued. "I know where they took the kids."

.


	10. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

Ben looked around the ovular plasteel table, meeting the eyes of each member of the Jedi Council. Most stared back at him with the blue-tinted eyes of holograms; Tahiri, Valin, and Karanya, at least, were real. He was glad to see that no one else had been lost since Denon.

"Most of you have received word of what happened on Denon. Two weeks ago we lost contact with the enclave there. Myri went to check it out, and she found Isis and the other Jedi dead. The Sith killed them and kidnapped the younglings."

Ben pulled a small disc from his left breast pocket and inserted it into the holoprojector in the center of the table. A building appeared over the Council members' heads, level with Ben's eyes.

"This is Château Malreaux, on Vjun. This is where they're holding the younglings. And it's not just them. According to the data Ulin unlocked, there are at least ten other test subjects listed as non-Jedi Force-sensitives."

"Test subjects?" The revulsion in Jysella Horn's voice was palpable.

"What kinds of tests?" Tekli asked.

Ben took a deep breath. "We don't know for sure. But I can tell you that Gabriel Mezzon is in charge of the project."

"_Doctor_ Mezzon?" Danni Quee Dreiz shook her head. "I thought he died on Yalena, years ago."

"Apparently not." Ben wondered, briefly, who had been assigned to oversee Mezzon. The Sith Lords most interested in his line of work had all been killed on Yalena, and there weren't many beings who could stomach the good doctor, especially when he started throwing Yuuzhan Vong biotech into the mix.

"Those poor children," Karanya murmured, tears in her eyes. She had lost her youngest child to Mezzon, and Ben tried not to remember how she had wailed over his tiny broken body.

There were a lot of things about Yalena he tried not to remember.

While the other Council members looked around the table in despair, Tahiri stared through the hologram of the mansion, directly at Ben. "What do you propose to do?"

Ben sat down in his chair and braced himself against the edge of the table. "We go get them."

Tahiri shook her head. "The Jedi Order is barely hanging on. If the information on this datapad is genuine, then you're talking about a strike at a major Sith world. We can't afford to take that risk right now."

Valin sighed and ran both hands over his hair. "If we don't do something soon, there won't be any of us left to stop them. You're talking about leaving those children at the mercy of the Sith." He looked around the table at the others. "Is that what we are? Are we really the cowards everyone thinks we are?"

Valin met Ben's eyes and nodded. "I'm with Ben. I say we go."

The rest of the table was silent. Ben glanced over at Tahiri, who was studying him carefully. He wondered – for the thousandth time – what she had been like before the operation that turned her into a Yuuzhan Vong hybrid. He'd been a baby when it happened. That was strange in itself – they quarreled like brother and sister so often that he sometimes forgot she'd been fighting a war when he was still in diapers.

He could see the wheels turning in her brain, calculating, planning, weighing the lives of the children against the risk of taking a team of Jedi to one of Sith worlds. It wasn't that she didn't care about the younglings. She'd just seen too many missions go wrong.

"Valin, I want to save the younglings as much as you do," Tahiri said deliberately, turning toward the other Jedi. "We all wish we could storm in there and rescue them. But we have to think this through. We can't afford to lose any more Jedi."

Everyone but Tahiri and Ben had lowered their heads to stare at the scuffed tabletop. As Ben locked eyes with Tahiri, he felt a swell of emotion that nearly caught him off guard. He wasn't sure if it was coming from him or Tahiri or someone else in the room, but he pushed it away and focused his thoughts on the kidnapped children.

"Look," he said carefully, "I know this isn't going to be easy. The Force hasn't really seemed to be on our side much lately."

"Ben…" Karanya said softly.

Ben raised a stopping hand. "The point is, I'm not going to sit here and wait for the Force to drop the solution into my lap. I made a promise to protect the Order, and those children are a part of it." He rested his right hand on the table and began to tap it slowly and deliberately, looking for a way to rephrase the thought that had just popped into his mind. He shook his head and pushed the thought aside. "Anyway, I'm going. I could use some help, but I'll understand if you think it's too risky."

Tahiri's voice was dangerously soft when she finally spoke.

"You're saying that if the Council votes against intervention, you will ignore its decision?"

Blue eyes met green for what seemed like the tenth time since the meeting had begun, and Ben could feel all the old arguments resurfacing. He was going to get an earful when this was over, but it wouldn't change what had to be done.

"I am," he said, and he'd never been so sure about anything in his whole life.

Jysella sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Ben, Tahiri is right. This sounds like a suicide mission. You know how Vjun favors the Sith."

"That's right," Gren Tivas said. "You'd have to take a very strong team, one that could resist the pull of the dark side."

"And we can't afford to lose anyone with that much experience," Jysella finished.

Valin stepped in before Ben could respond. "Jys, you're basing your decision on the fear that someone will turn. But isn't that something we already face every single day?"

"There's a reason they took the children there, Valin." Danni's voice was firm. Though not the most powerful Jedi on the Council, she was the oldest, and that still drew an extra measure of respect from her peers. "We all know why Vjun is dangerous. It changes you. The Sith will be more powerful than ever, our Knights will face greater temptation from the dark side, and who's to say that the children are still alive?" She shook her head. "As much as I hate myself for saying this, I believe the risks outweigh the benefits."

Ben had folded his arms across his chest, and his hands tightened around his biceps. "Danni, you're acting like this is another one of your experiments or puzzles, and it's not. We're talking about a bunch of _kids_. He's going to cut them up and destroy every part of them that's pure and decent." Ben paused before turning to face Tahiri. He could feel his face growing hot. "Maybe you've forgotten why you're here, Tahiri. Where would you be right now if Anakin hadn't come for you?"

If Tahiri could have killed a person with her eyes alone, Ben was pretty sure he'd be dead where he stood. He sensed the others shrinking away, waiting for the outburst that was surely coming.

Instead of reacting, Tahiri bit her lip and nodded very slowly. "Those in favor of sending a strike team to Vjun, keeping in mind that the Sith will be waiting for us, and it will probably require the presence of several Masters if we are to have a fighting chance. Failure in such a situation would be detrimental to the Order." Her gaze fell on each of the Council members in turn. "Those in favor?"

Ben gritted his teeth and raised a hand. Valin joined him, and across the table, Karanya raised hers as well. The holograms were motionless.

Tahiri waited for a moment, then nodded. "Thank you. Now, all opposed?"

Tekli, Jysella, Danni, and Gren all raised their hands. Tahiri was the last to do so, but there was no sense of victory in her vote. She shut down the holoproj in the center of the table. Château Malreaux disappeared.

"The decision is five to three, against. I conclude this Council. Be safe, and may the Force be with you."

The four holograms bowed their heads, repeated the phrase, and faded out. Before Tahiri could turn to face him, before Valin or Karanya could offer any words of encouragement, Ben removed the disc from the holoproj and stalked out of the tent.

.

* * *

.

Tahiri was going to throttle Ben Skywalker. She was absolutely going to murder him. At one time she'd imagined he would turn out to be the most reasonable member of his family, but when his stubborn streak showed, boy did it ever show. She wasn't even really upset about the hurtful things he'd said to her; she was furious because he was so fixated on saving the younglings that he was going to get himself killed.

"Hey!" she yelled after him. He had almost reached the edge of the camp when he finally stopped and turned around. He held up both hands defensively.

"I don't want to discuss this, Tahiri. I've made up my mind."

"And since when do you get to just make up your mind? You're a Council member and a Knight of this Order; that means you respect the decisions of the Council in all matters, not just the ones you agree with."

"Even when the decisions are ludicrous?"

"Ben, you have no idea what will happen if you go to Vjun."

"I know what will happen if I _don't_."

Tahiri pressed her lips together and nodded. "Okay, let's say you go. Let's say you go and you get yourself killed. What are we supposed to do then?"

Ben threw his hands up in the air. "You're supposed to keep living, that's what! You survived Anakin's death and all the ones after. I think you'll survive mine."

"You know that's not what I mean," Tahiri growled. "You're a symbol, Ben. A symbol of hope, of everything the Jedi Order once was and could be again. And you'd throw that all away just to… _gah! _I don't even know why you're doing it!"

"Because I have to!"

Tahiri pointed a finger in his face. "If you die and those kids end up right back in the hands of the Sith, what good is it going to do anyone?"

Ben scowled and turned away. "My dad would have saved them."

"Maybe. Probably. But your mom would agree with me. She would wait."

Ben looked back at her and glared. "You're wrong. She would have died before letting the Sith twist another child to the dark side."

"Okay, but that doesn't change anything, Ben. They're gone and we're here, and it really doesn't matter what they would have done. So I'll ask again – why?"

Ben was silent for a moment. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stared out at the horizon, and for a brief second Tahiri could almost believe she was seeing his father.

Ben sighed. "I know I can save them, Tahiri. I _know_ it."

Tahiri believed him, or at least that he believed his words were true. There was something else there, though, something lurking underneath. "What aren't you telling me?"

Ben met her gaze, and it was the first time in many years that she'd seen that hint of desperation in his eyes. "I'm tired of hiding from the dark side," he said. "I'm tired of wondering whether I'll give in one day and live up to my grandfather's legacy. I spent six months on that ship, Tahiri. Six months alone in my cabin at night, just waiting." He paused and looked away, and his voice grew quiet. "You don't understand how much stronger the pull is at night."

She thought about telling him that she did understand, that she was intimately acquainted with the lure of the dark side, but she decided in this instance it probably wouldn't help to point that out.

Instead, she reached out and placed both hands on his shoulders. "You're not going to fall to the dark side, Ben."

"I'm sure you felt the same way about Jacen once."

Tahiri was tempted to punch him. She squeezed his shoulders hard and forced him to look her in the eyes. He winced under her fingertips.

"Listen, kiddo. You know what happened with Jacen was not your fault, and you are _not _going to make his mistakes. Enough of this kind of talk, okay? Let the dead worry about the dead."

Ben squeezed his eyes shut and nodded. Tahiri let go of his shoulders.

"I swear, Skywalker, sometimes I just don't get you."

Ben blew air through his nostrils and looked out at the horizon. "Everyone's allowed their moment of weakness, right? Well you just saw mine."

"I'd hardly call it weakness. You're human, after all. You're allowed to be afraid now and then."

"I try not to make a habit of it."

"I've noticed. I wish I could change that, maybe scare you out of going on this crazy rescue mission."

Ben angled his body away from her, and she wondered how he had managed to turn her righteous anger into reluctant acceptance.

"We'll leave after sundown," Ben said. "Me and whoever else wants to come along. Should give Myri and Ulin enough time to get whatever info we need to make it past Vjun's defenses."

"They'll probably need more than a few hours if they're going to do all that."

"We can't afford to wait any longer. We leave tonight."

Tahiri studied him for a moment. "Where are you going now?"

"For a ride. Clear my head."

Tahiri sighed. "Ben, I'm not going to see you off tonight. I hope you understand."

He hesitated before answering. "I do."

"Okay, then." She slipped her hands into her coat pockets. "May the Force be with you."

Ben's smile was faint. "And with you, Tahiri."

.

* * *

.

The children were staring at him expectantly.

As someone who had faced the most dangerous foes in the galaxy and cheated death on more than one occasion, Anakin was surprised by how intimidating the unblinking stares of eight younglings could be. He wasn't really sure why these children were so interested in him, but a whole group of them had materialized outside of Ben's tent sometime around midday demanding to be told the story of his and Ben's daring escape on Heibic 3. He had indulged them, and now they were back to the staring.

"So," he said slowly, trying not to fidget. "What now?"

"You got any more stories?" a small boy asked.

Did he ever. Too bad half of them were about the war or his Jedi training; with Davin and Dolan sitting amongst the group, and Ben's warning still ringing in his ears, Anakin was hesitant to tell any of those stories. As for the other half, well… he wasn't sure those were exactly appropriate for his very young audience.

Anakin rubbed the back of his neck and scanned his audience. A few of the children, including Davin and little Carin Horn, were resting their chins in the palms of their hands. He couldn't tell if they were bored or simply waiting for the next outrageous tale of escape.

"Um," Anakin started, but as he did so he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye, something moving very swiftly toward the outskirts of the camp. He broke eye contact with the children to get a better look and was surprised to see Ben untying and then straddling one of the swoop bikes.

"Wait here," Anakin said, moving away from the children to chase after Ben. He had only gone a few steps when someone stepped out in front of him. At first he only saw a head of sun-bleached hair, then a scarred forehead, and solemn green eyes looking up at him.

"Tahiri." He said the name with a little too much force, partially because he was checking to make sure that it was, in fact, her name, and partially because he was a little annoyed that she had stopped him from going after his grandson. He took a step back and stared over her head as Ben gunned the engine to life.

"Let him go," she said softly. "He wants to be alone." She looked past him at the children. "Shouldn't you all be heading to your tents for lunch? Scoot!"

The children dispersed, Davin and Dolan hanging back long enough to give Tahiri a smile and a wave. She wrinkled her nose at them and waggled her fingers near her chin. It was one of the odder sites Anakin had seen since being ripped from his own time.

"He'll be back by nightfall," Tahiri said as she stared after the twins. "No need to worry."

"I wasn't worried."

"Sure." Tahiri returned her eyes to his. "Ben never told me where you're from."

He was a bit taken aback by the question, but Ben had prepared him for this situation. Be honest, but not _too_ honest, was his advice. The fewer outright lies, the better.

Anakin wasn't entirely comfortable with the deception, but then there wasn't a whole lot about his circumstances that he did find comfortable. For now he would follow Ben's instructions.

"I don't know where I'm from, really," he started. "I lived here when I was little, and after that I moved around a lot – the Core planets, the Inner Rim. I spent the last several months jumping around the Outer Rim."

Tahiri nodded, eyebrows raised. "How'd you end up on Ossus?"

Anakin licked his lips. "I honestly don't know."

"Were you kidnapped?"

"Something like that."

She looked away and examined the sleeve of her coat. "Well, it's obvious you're very gifted. I can't believe we've never met; I travel to all the enclaves, you know."

"Well, you must have missed one."

He was surprised when she let out a short laugh. "Ben was right," Tahiri said, rubbing her jaw with one hand. "I _do_ like you."

Anakin wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so he kept his mouth shut and waited. He didn't have to wait long. Tahiri began to walk, and she gestured for Anakin to join her. The questions soon resumed.

"So your parents named you after the great Anakin Solo, huh?"

While her tone seemed completely natural, Anakin sensed her suspicion. He wondered if she knew about who he had claimed to be, and if so, he wondered if she thought he was insane. "Yes. They really admired him."

"Were they Jedi, too?"

"No."

Now he sensed sadness, a flash of genuine heartache that had snuck past Tahiri's shielding.

"He really was unique, even among his fellow Jedi," she said, her voice soft. "Even compared to the rest of his family. Sometimes I think we clung to that uniqueness a little too much, tried to turn him into something he wasn't."

"He was a hero."

"He was a kid." There was an old, old bitterness in her voice. "We were all just kids." She shook her head. "Would he have gone on to do more great things? Or do you think he would have eventually turned on us?"

Anakin's voice sounded small in his own ears. "I don't know."

Tahiri met his gaze and quirked one corner of her mouth. "Sorry. I'm just an old woman rambling on."

"You're not old."

"No, I'm not." She looked away again. "But then sometimes I am."

After a moment, she turned and fixed him with a hard stare, one that he was sure had stopped many Jedi dead in their tracks.

"I don't know if you are who you say you are, but regardless, I want you to know something. I would have died. Maybe not right away, maybe not until they'd wiped away all my human memories and turned me into the perfect hybrid. But I would have died. Anakin Solo saved my life. You're right to say he was a hero. He was _my_ hero. And then he got himself killed, and one by one I've had to watch the rest of his family – _my_ family – follow him to the grave."

Anakin looked deep into her green eyes and felt his stomach twist into a cold knot, and he wondered if maybe she knew exactly who he was.

Tahiri's lower lip was trembling, but there were no tears. "Anakin was a hero," she said firmly. "But I wish to the gods or the Force or whoever's out there that he didn't have to be. I wish none of them had been heroes. I wish they'd let someone else take up that job."

He thought she was going to say more, but she didn't. His hands were shaking now, and he crossed his arms to hide them from her. "Why are you telling me all of this? You barely know me."

Tahiri shook her head as if amazed he hadn't caught on yet. "It's _because_ I barely know you. And because maybe one day you'll be in a position to make a difference, and you'll remember this conversation."

She blew out a frustrated breath and narrowed her eyes at the horizon. Anakin understood that she was very close to his family, was in fact handpicked by Jaina to be her sons' guardian. But he hadn't realized just how much she loved them. All of them, not just his namesake or the twins. And that meant he had failed her, too. He had brought this evil world down on her, had destroyed her life just as surely as he had destroyed Luke's or Leia's.

Would he ever have the chance to redeem himself? Was it even possible at this point?

Tahiri sighed and looked up at him. "Take care of him," she said, and then began to move back toward the tents.

"I will," he called after her. She didn't respond, and he watched her walk away, her long coat flapping in the breeze.

.

* * *

.

Ben had been riding for hours when he finally stopped to take in the sunset. He planted one foot in the soft sand and dismounted, leaving the gently humming swoop bike to float in place while he climbed the steep dune before him. Ben stopped at the crest of the dune and stared out at the horizon. Tatoo II was a half circle, resting along the line of brown rock and sand that separated earth from sky. Its color had deepened from orange to almost blood-red, staining the dark blue around it. Above and to the left, Tatoo I glowed softly, its yellow-white surface tempered by the deepening dusk.

There was a slight breeze in the air; a few strands of hair tickled his ears and face as Ben leaned his head to one side, reflecting on the simple majesty of Tatooine's sunset. Just about everyone in his family had seen this sight at some point in their lives. Sometimes it seemed as though Tatooine was a fulcrum upon which the destiny of the entire Skywalker line turned. He had been the last to come here, the last to return to the place where so much had started. He had hoped to avoid it; instead, he found himself using it as a base of operations, tying himself to the planet.

Tatooine was not simply his birthright or part of his bloodline. It had become his home.

A home that he desperately wanted to be free of, but a home nonetheless.

Ben kicked the sand with his boot, looking away from the suns. It was almost time to leave. Anakin and the others would be waiting. He still wasn't sure what to do about his grandfather. He couldn't leave him here; just being on Tatooine seemed to stir many dark and troubling things inside of the future Sith Lord – not something Ben wanted to encourage. On the other hand, was it any safer to take him to the rendezvous? To include him in the rescue of the children? Not to mention that the rest of the Council would inevitably start asking questions about this mysterious stranger who shadowed Ben's every step.

He could only imagine how _that_ conversation would go.

Ben ran a hand over his eyes. He had to take Anakin with him; he didn't have any other choice. If his grandfather went off the deep end, he needed to be there to stop him.

If he could. Ben had the sneaking suspicion that his victory over Anakin earlier that day had as much to do with chance as it did skill. Once his grandfather got over being distraught and disoriented, he would probably be a lot harder to take down.

_Now there's a comforting thought._

Ben watched Tatoo II slip below the horizon. He turned his back on the sight and returned to his swoop.

Time to go.

.

* * *

.

The shuttle arrived during a particularly violent downpour of acid rain, one that burned most of its black paint right off of the hull. It docked in a sheltered hangar and was met by Darth Festus and Doctor Mezzon, a pale slip of a man who watched quietly as the guards led six individuals – all children – off the shuttle and into Château Malreaux.

Darth Ferrus watched all of this on a vidscreen in the control room where he had just concluded an audience with his master. He wasn't exactly anxious to tell his brother how the conversation had gone, but it had to be done.

"_We had hoped, my lord, that we might lead the Hunt." Ferrus was still afraid to be alone in a room with his master, even when they were light years apart. _

_Darth Krayt regarded him coolly from behind his mask. "What makes you think you have the necessary experience?" It wasn't a taunting tone, and yet Ferrus felt shamed by it._

"_We are the youngest Sith Lords in your Order. There's a reason you chose to promote us so young."_

_His master leaned away from the transmitter, his voice deceptively soft. "And you think that reason is sufficient to justify removing Lord Dominius from the Hunt?"_

Ferrus sighed and smacked his palms alternately against his cheeks. He'd had a response all planned out in his head, but when it came time to tell his master, of course he'd messed it up. His brother should have been the one to do it; he was more eloquent than Ferrus by far. But Festus refused to make the call, insisting that they go along with the Master's plan.

Lord Krayt had quickly taken control of the conversation and redirected it to said plan. Ferrus and his brother were to remain on Vjun and worry about the impending attack. No need to look for the Jedi because the Jedi would come to them.

_And after that, Dominius will lead the Hunt again, and we'll still be here on this rock, babysitting a lunatic and his stupid project._

Ferrus jumped out of his seat and made his way to the prisoners' cells, where his brother would surely be. He was starting to wonder if his twin cared at all about moving up in the ranks. Maybe he really did just want to stay on Vjun.

Ferrus arrived in the cellar where the prisoners were being kept, and sure enough, Festus was there. Ferrus bumped his brother's shoulder as he passed him, stepping into the dimly lit cell. Two guards were shackling the new arrivals to the wall. They were all human children, two girls and four boys, none of them any older than twelve.

"I like that one," Festus said, leaning on the doorframe. He nodded toward a small blond boy who was sitting close to a dark-haired girl, staring up at them with big eyes. "He's a little creepy, don't you think?"

Ferrus looked over his shoulder at his brother and frowned. "Yeah, reminds me of someone else I know."

Festus let out a short, smug laugh and sidled up next to his brother. "I imagine," he whispered, "that we must look quite frightening when we stand together like this."

Ferrus studied the faces of the younglings and smirked. Most of them were trying not to look at their captors, but a few had noticed that there were now two Sith Lords standing shoulder to shoulder in the doorway. Their eyes were wide as they shrank away from the sight.

"I think it's the eyes," Ferrus replied, keeping his voice low. "You were right about them."

Festus inclined his head slightly. "Why go for those awful yellow things when we were born with such wonderfully eerie ones of our own?"

"Well, the yellow _is_ useful sometimes." He looked over at Festus, the edges of his blue irises turning the color of fire. "I'd say we look pretty scary this way, too."

Festus sighed, but there was a hint of a smile around his mouth. "I suppose, if you're only interested in frightening small children."

"That's _all_ you're interested in."

"It's really not." Festus turned to leave the room, but he lingered for a moment, watching for Ferrus's reaction out of the corner of his eye. Ferrus's face twisted in a grimace.

"I really wish I didn't know half of what goes on in that brain of yours."

"Trust me, brother," Festus said as he left the cell. "You _don't_ know half."

Ferrus turned to follow him. "I spoke with the Master about—"

"I know." Festus tapped the side of his head. "Twin intuition, remember?"

"How could I forget?"

Festus gave him a bored look. "Save the sarcasm and put on a smile, brother. Judging by the stink in the air, I'd say Dominius and his little entourage have arrived."

"I think that stink is coming from Mezzon's lab."

Festus rolled his eyes. "Why are you always trying to ruin my fun?" He jerked his head toward a stairwell at the end of the corridor. "Come now; we don't want to keep our dear friends waiting."

.

* * *

.

The Jedi enclave was as still as the night air as Anakin followed Valin Horn to the waiting landspeeder. Kala Di Nal was sitting in the driver's seat, as solemn as she'd been upon their first meeting; now she was waiting to take them to Ben's ship, waiting for the man who was responsible for the whole operation.

Ben's swoop appeared as a black speck on the moon-drenched horizon, growing steadily larger until it came to a roaring stop alongside the speeder. He was silent as he dismounted and guided the bike to its stall, silent as he tossed his bag into the back of the speeder and swung himself into the passenger seat. Anakin and Valin settled into the back.

"I'm sorry about the Council," Kala Di murmured before firing up the engine. Thankfully, the speeder was much quieter than the swoop Ben had been riding.

Ben dismissed Kala Di's concerns with a wave. "We'll be fine as we are. Just take us to the _Daybreak_."

The girl nodded and took off into the night.

In the back seat, Anakin held his lightsaber in the palms of his hands. He couldn't see the path ahead, but he knew there would be blood. He could feel it.

_All things die, Anakin Skywalker._

_Even stars burn out._


	11. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

* * *

"You're sure you want to do this?"

Arden looked back at the now empty common area of the safe house. Ulin had already said his goodbyes and retreated to the kitchen. Sure, staying behind would definitely be the smart thing to do. But the right thing? She wasn't so sure. Besides, she'd told Elias she would stick with him, even if it meant going on a crazy mission to yet another Sith world.

"I'm sure," Arden replied, slipping her hand into Elias's. "Can't let you go running all over the galaxy without me."

Elias smiled. "No, we can't have that."

Myri interrupted by placing a hand on Arden's shoulder. "All right, kids, let's head out. Don't wanna miss our own party."

They followed Myri outside, back into the heavy Nar Shaddaa darkness. Without the haze of rain, Arden could make out a bit more of the moon's skyline. It wasn't distinctive or remarkable in any way. She noticed more people roaming the walkways, and she wondered if any of them could be spies for the Sith. She assumed that was part of the reason why Myri had sent Kohr, Ames, and Allana on ahead to the ship.

If truth be told, Arden didn't really know much about the intelligence business. She generally just followed orders and collected her credits.

Myri's ship was similar in design to the _Daybreak_, but it appeared to be a newer – and smaller – model. Arden wasn't an expert on ships either, but she knew enough to recognize that this ship was built for stealth and probably had a few modifications to boot. As she walked behind Elias and Myri into the secluded hangar, she noticed the cockpit lights were already on. Kohr was sitting in the pilot's chair, flipping switches overhead.

"All aboard!" Myri said in an almost song-like manner. Arden smiled at the woman's apparent cheerfulness as she followed Elias up the open ramp.

"What kind of freighter is this?" Arden asked.

Elias smiled over his shoulder. "YT-5500 bomber. Kind of like a freighter and warship in one neat little package."

Arden looked at the curved interior walls, admiring their sleekness. "How'd she get her hands on one of these?"

"Myri's got quite a few connections."

She decided not to ask what kinds of connections those were. "It's nice," she said.

"Thanks."

Arden twisted around to see Myri closing the hatch behind them. She tilted her cap to the side and patted the walls with a reverence usually reserved for religious ceremonies.

"She's a good, fast ship," Myri continued. "We'll be a little cramped with six of us, but we'll make good time." She eyed the open cockpit door. "Excuse me while I regain control of my ship."

A moment later, Arden heard a disgruntled noise that sounded just like Kohr. When she and Elias approached the cockpit, they found Kohr sprawled in the co-pilot's chair, a very indignant look on his face.

Myri glanced over at the boy. "Oh, come on, Tredo. Did you really think I was going to let you fly?"

Kohr crossed his arms over his chest and sank lower in the seat. "Elias let me fly Ulin's ship."

"For maybe five minutes," Elias interjected.

Myri swept a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear and readjusted her cap. "This ship is my baby, Tredo. And there's only one other person I'd let fly her."

"Who?" Kohr asked, waving one hand in the air.

Myri leaned back in her seat and grinned as the ship's engines came to life. "My big sister."

Kohr groaned.

Arden leaned toward Elias. "There's two of them?" she whispered.

"Oh yeah," he answered. "You'll get to meet her pretty soon, too."

"That's right," Myri said from her chair. "Syal is coming to Vjun with us."

As Nar Shaddaa gave way to the darkness of space, Arden shook her head and wondered if she would ever be able to keep up with the Jedi and all their allies.

.

* * *

.

Anakin stood over Ben's shoulder, watching the stars rush past. He wasn't sure how long he'd been standing there. Five minutes, maybe ten. Neither Ben nor Valin spared him so much as a glance. There hadn't been a whole lot of eye contact since they'd boarded the _Daybreak_.

Anakin finally broke the silence. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Ben exchanged a look with Valin. "Sure," he said. As he pulled himself out of his chair, he placed a hand on Valin's shoulder. "Take over for me?"

"You got it, boss."

Anakin led Ben back to the dejarik board where they'd had their first conversation as grandfather and grandson. He sat down on one side and waited for Ben to take the other. Ben was noticeably slow to do so.

"I take it this is going to be more than a minute."

Anakin shrugged. "Probably."

Ben propped one arm up on the table. "Okay. What's on your mind?"

Once again, Anakin found himself awkwardly silent in the presence of his grandson. He knew what he _wanted_ to say, but as it was in his many debriefings before the Jedi Council, he could already feel the right words slipping away.

"Do the Jedi in your time… do they have a lot of visions?"

Ben looked him square in the eyes. "Are _you_ having a lot of visions?"

_Straight to the point, as always._

"I've had them before. This one is new." His thoughts returned to that day, not so long ago, when he'd sat in the shade of Yoda's meditation chamber and listened as the old master advised him to let go of Padmé. To let go of the child – the children – growing inside her.

Ben was not Yoda, and he was not Obi-Wan or Mace Windu or any of the old Jedi. He was Anakin's flesh and blood. He would understand, wouldn't he? He would know what to do.

"What do you see?" Ben asked.

Anakin closed his eyes. "I dream of a cliff. I can't see anything around it, but I know I'm standing on the edge. And I can hear water, like there's an ocean below me. Padmé is there, somewhere in the darkness, calling to me. She's… she's dying, and I can't go to her. And then I fall."

Anakin opened his eyes to find Ben staring at him.

"Is that all?"

Anakin's gaze fell to the tabletop. "I think I'm jumping."

"Off the cliff?"

Anakin nodded.

"And you're worried it will happen for real."

"Yes."

Ben let out a long breath. "And the visions you said you had before. Did they all come true?"

"More or less. With my mother it was almost exactly as I saw it in my dreams. She was tortured by the sandpeople, and she ended up dying in my arms."

"Did you…?" Ben stopped and swallowed before continuing. "Did you see anyone else? In your other visions?"

Anakin rubbed his left thumb against the edge of the table. "Up until a few days ago, I kept dreaming of Padmé's death." He looked up at Ben, and he couldn't help the cynicism that crept into his tone. "And she is dead, isn't she?"

Ben's response was barely above a whisper. "Yes, she is."

"So is this _my_ death I'm seeing? Is it my turn now?" Anakin stood up and paced across the room. He wanted to hurl something, rail against the Force for not being clearer, or perhaps for being too clear in its message.

Ben ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I don't know. Do you honestly expect me to know? Like I'm the authority on visions? My dad's the one who had them all the time, not me."

Anakin stopped pacing. He'd done it again, letting his emotions take over. How was he ever going to deal with the dark side if he kept running to other people to solve his problems?

"I'm sorry," he said after a moment. "I just thought maybe you'd have some insight that I missed."

"You want my insight? Okay." Ben turned in his chair to face Anakin. "I believe in visions, and I believe in the Force; but I also believe in making choices. If you don't want to go flying off some cliff, then _don't jump_."

"It's not that simple."

"It _is_ that simple, Anakin. Maybe the Force has some grand plan for us, but we still have to choose. Don't try to tell me this is the only way things could have turned out. Because if it is, then I'd say to hell with the Force."

Anakin was dumbstruck for a moment as he stared unblinking at his grandson. "I'm glad Obi-Wan isn't around to hear you say that."

Ben scowled. "I don't mean it literally. That's my point: we all have our choices to make, and the future is not set in stone. The Force guides us, but it doesn't control us. We're supposed to control _it_."

Anakin felt himself deflate, as though all his anger and frustration had lost their power. Instead of feeling less burdened, he felt emptier, less sure of himself. Everything Ben said to him made sense. So why did he feel worse off?

The sound of footsteps distracted him for a moment. He turned to see Valin entering the room.

"We're coming up on the others," he said, looking at Ben. "You want to do the honors, or should I?"

Ben stood up and glanced at Anakin. "We're finished here. I'll be right there."

.

* * *

.

Allana Djo liked to think of herself as a reasonable, patient human being who others saw as wise beyond her years. Sure, she was prone to occasional bouts of adolescent moodiness, but at her core she was a calm, intelligent, introverted girl.

At least that was what she liked to think.

It didn't help that for the last six months she'd been dragged all over the galaxy and handed off from one family friend to the next, all so that her cousin – her supposed master – could go gallivanting across Sith territory. Not to mention the latest injustice: being dropped in a hole for three days with Myri Antilles, who could be so unrelentingly cheerful at times that it made Allana want to gag. If she stopped to think about it, she knew it wasn't Myri she was upset with, nor the fact that she'd had to spend three days listening to the woman's wisecracks. It was Ben. It was always Ben.

Allana stared at the wall opposite her, where Geridan Ames and Tredo Kohr were playing a children's card game. "Ha!" Kohr shouted, slapping his hand down onto one of the cards before Geridan could even react.

"Too slow," Kohr added, sweeping a pile of cards toward him while Geridan shot Allana a sullen look.

Allana shook her head, trying not to laugh at her friend's misery. "Aren't you supposed to be some kind of Jedi Knight? What kind of reflexes are those?"

Geridan placed one hand over his heart and frowned. While he wasn't looking, Kohr started to steal cards from his friend's quickly-dwindling pile.

"Hey!" Geridan turned and snatched his cards away, sending several flying through the air. "Cheater!"

Kohr grinned and laid the rest of his cards on the deck. "I quit. This isn't even a challenge."

Allana rolled her eyes as the boys started to argue over the game and Force knew what else. Boys could be so ridiculous sometimes.

A soft clicking caught her attention, and Allana looked up to see Elias walking down the corridor. "Get your stuff together, kids. We're coming up on the _Daybreak_."

Allana and the others moved out of the way as Elias stepped in front of the docking ring controls and began to tap in a combination. There was a hiss and clicking sound against the hull. Elias's hand hovered over a lever just above the keypad. The ship's comm unit buzzed.

_"Okay, they're extending their docking tube."_ Myri's voice was calm. _"Lock it in on my command."_

Allana felt the faintest tremor as the docking tube – she assumed – made contact with the ring.

_"Lock."_

Elias pulled down on the lever, and there was a _clunk_ and an even louder hiss as the tube locked and pressurized. A moment later, someone was knocking on their door.

Myri and Arden Veiss joined the rest of them at the docking ring as Elias pressed another button. The door slid open, and standing on the other side was Valin Horn, the stranger from the Heibic datatape, and Allana's master, Ben Skywalker.

Her cousin quirked one eyebrow and smirked. "Didn't I tell you I'd be fine?"

Elias shook his head before reaching out to embrace his friend, while Geridan and Kohr started talking over one another, each one claiming he'd known all along that Ben would make it out okay. Myri and Arden stood back, the former taking it all in with a wistful smile, the latter staring at the reunion a bit vacantly.

As much as Allana tried to focus her attention on Ben and how he'd abandoned her six months ago to roam the stars, she couldn't keep herself from glancing every few seconds at the stranger from Heibic, the one who had claimed to be Anakin Skywalker.

She probably should have been deeply offended by the fact that this man was posing as her long-dead great-grandfather, but she wasn't really. A little bothered by the fact that Ben had given him a lightsaber and let him tag along for the past few days? Yes. But she wasn't offended. If anything, she was curious. She hadn't met many legitimately crazy people in her fifteen years.

"You all remember our guest," Ben said, interrupting Allana's thoughts with a gesture toward the imposter. "This is…" He hesitated before dropping his hand. "You know what? I'm tired of introducing everyone. You can introduce yourselves. Myri? Could I talk to you for a minute?"

Myri pressed through the tightly packed group and gave Valin a friendly pat on the shoulder as she edged past him. She and Ben retreated to the _Daybreak_.

The crazy stranger was forgotten for a moment as Allana stared at the back of Ben's head. Six months and he hadn't said a single word to her. He hadn't tried to reach out mentally – hell, he hadn't even _looked_ at her. Allana's fists curled around the fabric of her robe while she struggled to maintain her composure.

It took a moment before she realized the man from Heibic was staring openly at her. While Elias, Geridan and the others gave Valin a proper greeting and listened to him talk about his children back on Tatooine, Allana took a few steps toward the stranger and held out her hand.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Allana."

The man looked somewhat more comfortable than he had on the security tape, but not by much. In fact, he looked a little sick. He reached out to take Allana's hand; he wore a leather glove over his right hand, and his grip was strong.

"Hello," he said quietly. Allana liked his voice. He didn't sound like a crazy person.

He released her hand, but kept his extended for a microsecond longer than she did. She stared at him expectantly, waiting for the rest of his introduction.

"Oh," he said, realizing he'd left something out. "I'm Anakin."

Allana raised both eyebrows. "Anakin what?"

He shrugged. "Just Anakin."

So was he telling the truth, or was he crazy and smart enough to try to hide it? Allana sighed. "That was my uncle's name. And my great-grandfather's. It's a good name, I guess."

"My mom seemed to think so."

She saw the faint smile on his lips and realized he was trying to be funny. Strange, that she was already warming up to him. It usually took longer for that to happen.

_Or maybe I just like crazy people._

Allana smiled back, and she felt something slip through the mental barriers she'd sensed around Anakin, something bright and happy and – she was a little embarrassed to admit it – kind of beautiful. It reminded her of her mother.

"Well," she said, "it's nice to finally meet you, Anakin."

"It's nice to finally meet you, too." His smile grew until it lit up his whole face. "Allana."

.

* * *

.

"What's this about, Ben?"

Ben motioned for Myri to join him inside the cockpit of the _Daybreak_, and once she was inside, he closed the door. Then he mentally counted to five before turning to face her.

"I told you to leave her with Ulin."

Myri looked at him with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance before folding her arms across her chest and widening her stance. "_You_ try telling a Solo what to do. We're lucky she didn't chase after you when you left in the first place. She doesn't need a babysitter, Ben. She needs her master."

Ben shook his head and looked out at the stars. "Not you, too."

"Good, so I'm not the only one who's telling you so."

"She's _my_ apprentice. Not yours, not Tahiri's, and not anyone else's. I want what's best for her. Why is that so hard for everyone to understand?"

Myri's eyes widened for a second, a look that suggested he was losing it. "What's got you all fired up?"

Ben replayed the last part of the conversation in his head, groaned, then fell into the pilot's seat. He covered his eyes with his hand and started to massage his forehead. "Nothing. I don't know, I'm just tired." He peeked at her from between two fingers. It seemed ridiculous that he should be mad at Myri Antilles, of all people. She was one of the most optimistic people he knew, and besides, non-Jedi allies were increasingly hard to come by. Alienating her now would accomplish nothing.

"I'm sorry, Myri."

She gave him the same look she'd been giving him since he was a teenager, the one that told him exactly how juvenile his behavior was. "Apology accepted, kid. But don't ever talk to me like I'm one of your students. I'm too old to put up with that stuff."

Ben laughed. "Why does everyone over thirty think they're old?"

She gave him an incredulous look. "What are you talking about? I'm not old."

Ben opened his mouth, thought better of it, and snapped it shut again. The _Daybreak's_ comm unit beeped with an incoming message, and Ben swiveled in his chair to check it out. "Looks like Syal is almost here. Tell her to open herself up to our frequency. She can stay on her ship while we go over the plan."

Myri winked and offered him a mock salute. "Aye aye, Captain."

Ben opened the cockpit door and headed back to Myri's ship to gather the others. He found them where he'd left them, huddled around the mouth of the docking tube. The first thing he noticed was that Anakin had separated himself ever so slightly from the rest of the group; the second thing he noticed was that Allana was hovering close by, watching him.

Or perhaps more accurately, watching _over_ him. Ben sensed something strangely protective in her body language. Before he could reflect on it further, Elias turned to him and nodded.

"Ready?" he asked.

Ben looked around at the others. "Yeah. Let's use the _Daybreak's_ main hold. This ship's getting a bit cramped."

He avoided Allana's gaze as he spun on one heel and went back through the tunnel. He knew she was mad at him, and she had every right to be. But that didn't change what he had to do.

One by one, the Jedi and their allies filtered into the common area and found seats where they could. Ben pulled the holodisc of Château Malreaux from his pocket and inserted it in the room's holoprojector. An image of the estate materialized at the center of the room.

"By now I think you all know the situation and what's at stake. At this moment, there are nearly two dozen children being held on Vjun in this building." Ben nodded toward the hologram. "Château Malreaux. About half of these children were kidnapped from the Denon enclave; the others were most likely picked up for their higher than average Force sensitivity. They are all part of some experiment being conducted by Doctor Gabriel Mezzon."

Elias made a very unhappy sound. "Mezzon's alive?"

Ben hesitated. Apparently Myri hadn't told them everything about the Vjun project. Ben tried not to react to the pain he sensed in his friend. Instead, he focused his eyes on the hologram. "Yes, he's alive."

Elias shook his head, more upset than Ben had seen him in years. "But we blew that whole place sky high! There's no way he survived!"

Ben was about to respond when Myri stepped forward. "I know it's hard to accept, Elias, but the data from Ossus confirms it. Official reports, video logs… make no mistake, he _is_ alive." She glanced over at Ben. "However, there's no evidence to suggest that any of his research survived the explosion on Yalena. You boys may not have killed him, but you definitely destroyed his work."

Elias rubbed a hand over his face and stared at the floor, defeated. It wasn't exactly the mood Ben had been hoping to set before they even got to the actual rescue plan. He wished he could say he had been as affected by the news of the doctor's survival, but it didn't really surprise him. The Sith had a talent for surviving against impossible odds. It wasn't the first time.

"We can handle Mezzon," Ben said firmly. "I'm not worried about that. What I am worried about is getting into this place and finding the kids. Now…" He rotated the hologram and enlarged an area at the base of the estate, where its rocky foundation met a body of water. "Château Malreaux butts up against this harbor. The coast is riddled with caves and tunnels. Most of them have collapsed, but Myri says there are a few that probably still lead directly into the cellars of the château. This place was once a very heavily fortified mansion, and I'm sure the Sith have made use of at least some of the old security systems. Those tunnels are our best hope of getting in without casualties.

"Myri and Syal will provide cover from the air during our escape. Arden, you're with Myri in her ship. Syal?"

The ship's comm crackled for a few seconds before a new voice filtered through. _"I'm here, Ben."_

"I want you to fly the _Daybreak_. We can leave your ship here and come back for it later."

_"Oh, no worries; it's just a rental."_ Ben didn't miss the sarcasm in her voice.

"Right. So that leaves the rest of you to come with me. Once we're inside, Elias and Valin will find the kids while we cover for them." He raised his hands in the air and glanced around the room. "Any questions so far?"

Kohr and Ames exchanged a somewhat bewildered look while the others shook their heads slowly. In the farthest corner of the room, Anakin's face was unreadable as he continued to stare at the hologram.

"Perfect," Ben said. "Now, let's go over specifics."

.

* * *

.

_Didn't think I'd be going back there anytime soon._

Anakin studied the hologram, looking for anything else that might have changed in the seventy years since Count Dooku made Château Malreaux his personal fortress. It was hard to tell from here; the image wasn't as detailed as it could have been. Anakin had the feeling there would be an awful lot of improvisation once they hit the ground. He also had the feeling that Ben was perfectly aware of that fact.

His grandson was going over the layout of the building with the others, but Anakin could still see so much of it in his mind's eye. It had only been what, six months since he'd been there? Give or take. As for the collapsed tunnels, well… he wondered if Ben knew who to thank for that little inconvenience.

His memory of Vjun was not an unpleasant one. He could still recall the powerful surge he'd experienced upon entering its atmosphere, the sound of the Force singing to him rather than whispering. Everything had been clearer, fresher, more potent. He remembered feeling invincible.

The thought of it made him sick to his stomach. He wasn't sure if it was guilt over experiencing the dark side so freely, or anticipation at the thought of returning to such a Force-rich world.

Maybe it would be better for everyone if he sat this one out.

No. They needed him, whether they realized it or not.

He half-listened as Ben and Myri finished going over the plan with the others. The deep sense of foreboding he'd experienced on Tatooine – though it hadn't really gone away – was growing stronger. Anakin closed his eyes and tried to trace the feelings to something tangible, some element of the future that might be causing it. But of course, the Force was reluctant to reveal anything other than the cliff and the water and Padmé's desperate screams.

_I won't jump, I won't kill myself, just tell me what I'm supposed to do…_

When he opened his eyes, the room had started to clear. Ben had turned the holoproj off and was steering Allana in the direction of his private quarters. Curious, Anakin waited until they had moved out of sight to follow them. He ducked into the corridor and stilled his breathing, straining to hear the conversation between his two grandchildren.

"_What?_"

"Allana, keep your voice down. Just listen to me for a second—"

"You think you can dump me on your friends for six months and then expect me to stay out of this?"

"You've gone six months; I don't think a few more hours will kill you."

"But it's not just a few more hours! You never take me on missions! What's the point of naming me your apprentice when you don't even want me around?"

"I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing it for _you_. I can't keep you safe down there. You're better off with Syal."

"Being useless!"

"I told you, I need you to man the guns. There's going to be a lot of enemy fire, and Syal will need help."

"Isn't she an ace starfighter pilot?"

"Aren't you a Solo _and_ a Djo _and_ a Skywalker?"

There was silence for a moment as Allana seemed to lose her momentum.

"I've made my decision, Allana. You're staying on the _Daybreak_, and that's final."

Anakin straightened up as Allana stormed out of Ben's room, not even giving him so much as a glance. A very tired-looking Ben followed a few seconds after, but he stopped upon seeing Anakin in the corridor.

"You heard all that, I suppose?"

Anakin nodded. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. She'll be fine in a day or two." Ben leaned against the wall opposite Anakin and gave him a weak grin. "Teenagers are hell."

Anakin shook his head. "I know I was."

"I believe it."

Ben's grin faltered for a moment as he looked down the corridor. "I don't know how we got to this point," he said with a sigh.

"What do you mean?"

"You know. She acts like I'm the enemy. Like I'm trying to be her father, and that's not what I'm doing."

Anakin thought of Obi-Wan, of all the times they had bickered about training and missions and whether Anakin was ready to tackle a new challenge on his own. He thought of Obi-Wan alone in his hut on Tatooine and of black body armor and fire. His throat constricted as he tried to push the images away.

"She loves you," he said. "Don't let her forget that you love _her_."

Ben stared at him, a wry expression spreading slowly across his face. "Part of me wants to ignore you. Maybe that's my own rebellious streak showing through, huh?" He shook his head. "But you're right. And it's what I've been trying to do, but…"

"There's always that feeling," Anakin murmured, "that you're not doing enough."

Ben leaned his head back against the wall. "That you'll never do enough." He looked at Anakin through half-closed lids. "You've turned me into a moping, pathetic fool, Gramps."

Anakin was acutely aware that this might be the last moment of normalcy before everything went to hell. He tried to smile. "You're welcome."

.

* * *

.

The team of Jedi touched down a little more than a kilometer from Château Malreaux, landing in a deep depression that appeared to have been formed by whatever had caused the collapse of the surrounding caves. Myri and Ulin hadn't had ample time to gather all the details of the Vjun countryside, so finding the right tunnel into the mansion was going to take a lot of guesswork.

Ben waited for the others to disembark before he finally stepped off of the _Daybreak_. The air was cold, and there was a light drizzle that stung his skin like a thousand tiny needles. Acid rain. Perfect.

If he was completely honest with himself – and he was trying to be – it wasn't the rain or the cold or the gloominess of the planet that was putting him on edge. The whole planet was saturated in the dark side; every so often he caught a hint of something in the air, something that felt like madness, like everything he associated with the Sith. Myri said the people of this planet had attempted to enhance their Force-strong population with genetic experimentation, ultimately resulting in a near-global insanity. Sounded like the perfect place for Doctor Mezzon's research.

They had gone a few meters when Ben turned back to face the _Daybreak_. He pulled out his comlink. "If they spot you, find somewhere else to lay low. We'll call when we're ready."

Through the cockpit window, he saw Syal give him a nod and a wave. _"Will do. May the Force be with you."_

Ben tucked his comlink away and looked out at the ridge in the distance. "There used to be an entrance up there."

Anakin appeared at his side. His face was pale. "That whole network collapsed the last time I was here. We'll have to look for one of the smaller side tunnels. I know there's still a way in."

Ben frowned and lowered his voice. "What makes you so sure?"

"Because I can feel it up there, on the southern slope."

Startled, Ben examined the hillside, probing it with the Force, and sure enough, there was a void on the southern side that ran deep underground.

"You're right." He couldn't hide the surprise in his voice.

A smirk, and a laugh that was a bit too confident. "Of course I am."

Ben studied his grandfather for half a second, wondering how deeply the Vjun atmosphere was affecting him. Anakin had mentioned coming here not too long ago on a mission. His description of the Force's potency here… well, Ben hadn't been able to figure out whether Anakin was afraid of the planet or a little in love with it. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, bringing him along.

Then again, he _had_ found the tunnel. Ben took a deep breath.

Time to see where it led.

.

* * *

.

Lord Dominius watched the vidscreen carefully, waiting for something worthwhile to happen.

"I have never understood your fascination with the doctor's work," he said slowly, eyes never leaving the human child on the screen.

Darth Festus's voice came from behind him. "The man is an artist. I admire his creativity."

"Don't you mean butchery?" The second voice belonged to Darth Ferrus, and Dominius sensed that this was an ongoing argument between the brothers.

He liked it when they weren't getting along.

Festus responded to his brother's taunt with an even tone. "I mean creativity, my dear brother." The smaller twin sidled up next to Dominius. "You must appreciate what we're doing here, Lord Dominius. Mezzon's methods may be unorthodox, but if he can find new ways to enhance our connection to the Force, isn't it worth it?"

Dominius frowned. As distasteful as he found the Vjun project, it had been condoned by Lord Krayt; and when one looked past the use of children in the experiments, Festus's argument actually made some degree of sense.

The human child – a female – was sitting upright on the operating table, watching something offscreen. Her face was unusually thin for one of her age and species.

Dominius turned his head just enough to catch Festus's eye. "Are you trying to tell me you don't get any personal satisfaction out of watching the doctor work?"

Festus smirked and looked away. Behind them, Ferrus cleared his throat.

"He'd be content to stay here forever if it meant watching this sort of thing all day."

"Don't be ridiculous," Festus replied, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

Such a strange boy.

The door to the chamber slid open, and Darth Misra stepped inside.

"My lord," she said. "The master wishes to speak with you."

Dominius turned away from the vidscreen as Doctor Mezzon came into view, blocking the child on the table. He gave Festus and Ferrus a stiff nod before exiting the room.

Once he was outside, Misra led him back to the private conference room he'd requested upon his arrival. Darth Raze was off in one corner of the room, going through a series of martial arts techniques unique to Iridonia. As soon as he saw Dominius, he bowed and left the room. Misra shut the door behind her, leaving Dominius completely alone.

The Sith Lord crossed the room and activated the holoprojector at the far end. A slightly less than life-size image of his master materialized above him. Dominius kneeled before Darth Krayt.

"Everything is in place, just as you ordered."

The Sith Master stared down at him from behind his vonduun crab mask. _"You have done well, Lord Dominius. If things proceed as planned, your reward will be great."_

Dominius bowed his head. "I won't fail you, my master."

_"I have great faith in you, my apprentice. When the Jedi arrive, make sure you give them a proper welcome."_

_._

* * *

.

It was after they reached their fifth dead end that Ben realized someone was following them. Up until now, their tail had taken care to be silent, but a single loose stone tumbling into the underground lake had let him know they were not alone.

The Jedi were walking sideways along a narrow bank, moving slowly to avoid slipping several meters down into the still, dark waters. With little more than a few glowworms to light their way, they had to rely on handheld lights and their enhanced Force sensitivity to map a path through the tunnels. They had just turned away from the dead end when Ben felt the tremor of a pebble rolling into the water.

A second later, Anakin's lightsaber sprang to life, illuminating the darkness. Standing millimeters from the blade was Allana.

"It's just me," she whispered, hands raised defensively.

Ben released an angry breath. "Emperor's bones, Allana! What are you doing here?"

Anakin lowered his lightsaber, and Ben saw him take a step toward Allana. His cousin stared up at him with big, concerned eyes.

"I couldn't let you go without me."

Ben thought about telling her he was safer without her here, but he held his tongue. He also thought about demanding an explanation as to how she'd given Syal the slip; he decided that could wait, too.

"Stay in the middle," he warned. "And when the fighting starts, don't take on anyone by yourself."

Allana glanced at the others before giving Ben a hurt look. "Okay. But I just wanted to tell you, I think I found the way in."

Ben exchanged a look with Valin, then Elias. "What?"

"Back here," Allana said, gesturing toward a crack in the rock that they'd already passed. She hugged the wall, moving back in the direction of the crack. "Take a look."

Anakin, who was closest to Allana, followed her and held his saber up as he peered through the crack. "She's right. There's a short tunnel and a door on the other side of this wall." Without waiting for the go ahead, he started to cut away at the rock with his blade.

"Careful!" Valin said, looking instinctively toward the ceiling. "This whole cavern could collapse."

"It survived a concussion grenade," Anakin quipped, intent on his work.

"How would you—"

"Valin," Ben said, cutting off the older man's protest. "It's fine."

Anakin stepped aside as debris fell from his cuts. He used the Force to shove the rest of the loose rock into the tunnel he'd revealed. The hole was just big enough for a grown man to squeeze through. He crawled into the hole. Allana followed, and then the others. Ben was the last to go through.

Allana was right; it was a door on the other side. On the rock next to it was a control pad with numbered keys. Ben went to the head of the group and inspected the keypad, waving Kohr over as he did so. "Do your thing, genius."

Kohr plugged a cable into the side of the keypad and attached the other end to his datapad. He gently removed the cover and whistled at what he saw. "This model is ancient. They don't even use this type of wiring anymore. It could take me a while."

Anakin grunted something unintelligible. Ben glanced at him over his shoulder. "Keep at it, Kohr."

He patted the boy on the shoulder before moving to the back of the group where Anakin was standing silently. He stopped at his grandfather's side. "Something you'd like to share with the group?"

Anakin turned away from the others and bent his head toward Ben's. "Does he realize that door is on hinges?"

"What?" Ben frowned up at him. "You mean…?"

"The keypad's not connected. It's a dummy."

"You're sure? It looks like a regular sliding door and security system to me."

Anakin smirked. "I'm positive. The hinges are on the inside. Don't worry, it probably fooled the Sith, too. I'm sure they thought their cellar was secure." He shook his head and laughed. "It's amazing what a few decades will do to your perspective."

Ben tilted his head and studied his grandfather. "Right, I keep forgetting – you're ancient, too." He ignored the look of mock hurt on Anakin's face and returned to the door. "Hold on a second, Kohr." Ben leaned his body against the door and pushed. The door creaked open, though not too loudly, and a layer of dust rained down from the frame.

On the other side of the door was a room that might once have been beautiful, but was now only a filthy, broken mess. Furniture was overturned, some of it in pieces. The carvings in the wall had been burned by blaster fire and… were those lightsaber burns? Ben crossed the room to another open archway and looked around the corner.

Two Sith soldiers were standing guard, chatting idly. Ben ducked back into the room and motioned for the others to join him. He felt the Sith students start to move; perhaps they had sensed something was wrong.

_Here we go._

The soldiers turned the corner, and Ben saw their eyes go wide a split second before Kohr and Ames knocked them upside the head with the hilts of their sabers. The two men crumpled to the floor.

"Nice work," Ben said, stepping over the soldiers. Kohr and Ames bumped elbows together before bending over to retrieve their enemies' weapons. Anakin and Allana followed after, with Elias and Valin bringing up the rear.

"I thought there'd be more down here," Elias whispered, looking around.

Valin shrugged. "Maybe we should count ourselves—"

"Jedi! The Jedi are here!"

Ben pulled out his blaster – set for stun – and shot the Sith soldier who had been yelling into his comlink. The man tumbled down a flight of stone stairs at the end of the hallway and landed awkwardly at the bottom.

"—lucky," Valin finished. He sighed, drawing his lightsaber as he did so. "Oh, never mind."

Somewhere above, a siren started to go off, its high-pitched wail piercing straight to Ben's core. He winced and covered his ears for a moment before looking back at the others.

"Let's go!" he shouted over the alarm. Several lightsabers ignited, filling the gloomy darkness with turquoise, emerald, and silver light. He took one last moment to meet first Allana's eyes, then Anakin's; finally, Ben faced the stone staircase and plunged forward.

.


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

* * *

It didn't take long for Ben to decide that this might have been a bad idea after all.

As the team of Jedi ran up the stone staircase, they found themselves entering a low-ceilinged corridor. Sith soldiers spilled into the hallway from a door at the far end; at their head was a pair of Lessers, red lightsabers ignited. They hardly seemed surprised to find a group of Jedi in their midst. The pair at the front – a Twi'lek and a Chagrian – sneered; the Twi'lek pulled out a comlink a spoke into it.

"The Jedi are in the basement, my lord. Engaging now."

Ben looked back at the others as he deflected blaster bolts. "We've got to get to a computer terminal and find where they're keeping the kids."

The two Lessers ran forward to meet them; Ben ducked, and as he did so, Elias sent a wave of Force energy crashing into them. They weren't strong enough or smart enough to block it, and went tumbling backward into the path of the soldiers. While the Lessers struggled frantically to disentangle themselves from the soldiers, Ben and Elias ripped their lightsabers from their hands. Kohr and Ames followed suit, going after the soldiers' blasters. A few of them were able to hold onto their weapons, but by the time they got over the initial assault, Ben had already sliced through the barrels, rendering the blasters useless.

The Lessers tried to get out of the way, but it was too late; Kohr and Ames skewered them with matching green blades. The soldiers in the back reached for their vibroblades; a second later they were on the ground, holes smoking in their chests. Ben and Elias deactivated their sabers and looked back at the others.

Ben frowned. "Where's Allana? And Anakin?"

Valin was busy destroying the blasters that Kohr and Ames had taken from the soldiers. He looked up at Ben. "Through that door, looking for a computer." He gestured toward an open door halfway between them.

Anakin and Allana emerged from the room a moment later. "Nothing," Anakin said, eyes narrowed. "I sensed a strong presence above us, one floor up by the feel of him."

Ben exhaled. "It's only going to get worse the farther up we go."

Kohr and Ames kicked the bodies of the Lessers; Ben felt something cold hit his stomach as he noticed the hunger in their eyes.

"That's enough," Ben said roughly, pushing the boys forward down the corridor.

"Ben?" It was Elias's voice, coming from a room near the end of the passage. "I found something."

He knew from the tone of Elias's voice that the children weren't in the room, but that didn't stop Ben from imagining the worst. He'd seen enough of Mezzon's atrocities to fill his nightmares for the rest of his life, and try as he might, nothing – not even the Force – could push out the images that flashed before his mind's eye. He stepped over the bodies of the soldiers and entered the room.

It was empty, save for a dozen or so sets of shackles bolted into the walls and floors.

Ben took a deep breath. "Come on," he said softly. "Let's get out of here."

Elias and the others followed him as he left the room and jogged toward the door from which the Sith had come. On the other side was another staircase, this one leading up to the main level of the mansion. The walls were made of a smoother stone than the ones in the cellar, and they seemed to be in better condition. He could hear someone giving orders; the words were unintelligible, but they echoed down the stairwell. Ben activated his lightsaber.

_Should have stayed on Tatooine_, he thought wearily, trying to fight the heaviness in the air. The Force was so thick here. It was like coming down off a mountain peak and being overwhelmed by the richness of the oxygen, only instead of relishing it, Ben felt as though he were being slowly suffocated.

He paused for a moment before mounting the bottom step.

"_Just one step at a time, kid."_

Ben bowed his head to hide the smile that had crept onto his lips. Uncle Han had always had a way of telling Ben just what he needed to hear – even if the advice was coming from a decade in the past.

Ben inhaled for several seconds and brought his lightsaber up in front of him. Then he began to sprint up the steps, aware that the others were close on his heels. As he emerged from the stairwell at full speed, he realized they were just outside the mansion's great entry hall. An enormous stone arch – painted in the crimson and cream of the House of Malreaux and marred by fire – formed the doorway into the hall, and on the other side a half dozen soldiers stood in close formation, blasters raised.

The Jedi burst into the entry hall, and every lightsaber came up to deflect blaster bolts. Three of the soldiers went down immediately, and the other three started to back away, looking for cover. Ben spun his weapon in front of him and glanced behind him, searching the chamber for another way out.

Anakin beat him to it.

"Over here!" His grandfather's voice rose above the hum of the sabers. He was pointing toward a narrow corridor, one that looked as though it led further into the interior of the mansion. Ben and Elias covered the others as they fell back into the side corridor. Two more soldiers fell lifeless to the floor, and the last one disappeared through an archway across the room, calling for backup. Safe for the moment, Ben followed his team into the corridor.

He had just left the main hall when a laser bolt went sizzling past Ben's ear. He looked over his shoulder to see a pair of soldiers defending a door several meters behind him. Kohr and Ames reached the soldiers first, dispatching them with minimal effort. Ben expected the door to be locked, but Kohr opened it without any trouble. Ben and his team entered the room quickly and shut the door.

The room was filled with computer terminals, vidscreens, holoprojectors, and every other device necessary to monitor and control the various security systems in the mansion. There was only one thing it was missing: someone to do the monitoring and controlling.

"Looks like this was their control room," Kohr said. He stepped toward the center of the room and ran his fingers over the surface of a long table made from what looked like obsidian. Ben noticed a computer terminal at the far end.

Valin's eyes roamed the room for a minute as he lowered his lightsaber. "Then why aren't they in here?"

"A mansion this size?" Ben cut in. "This isn't the only control room. They'd have a backup somewhere, probably on a higher floor. But that doesn't mean we can't find something useful here." He rounded the far corner of the table and waved Kohr over. "Check it."

As Kohr made his way over to the computer terminal, Ben hurried back to the door, opening it halfway and motioning for Anakin to join him. Together, they watched the hallway while the others huddled around Kohr. Every few seconds, Ben would glance over at Kohr, waiting for news.

It only took a moment for the boy to get past the computer's security, and once he had, a green circle appeared on the transparent vertical display in front of him. He tapped his finger on the upper right quadrant, and it expanded to show countless streams of data. Kohr quickly scanned the image on the screen. "According to this, there are thirteen younglings left. Nine humans, two Quarren, a Togruta, and an Iktotchi."

"Only thirteen?" Ben's insides felt as though they'd twisted in a knot. "Where are they?"

Kohr looked up at him, worry creeping into his eyes. "Fifth level, east wing."

Valin put a hand on Elias's shoulder before meeting Ben's gaze. "We're on it."

Ben felt a tremor – no, more than that – in the Force. Another squad of soldiers had just entered the main hall. "Hurry," he said, activating his saber as he listened for the sound of footsteps. Next to him, Anakin did the same. "We'll hold them off as long as we can."

"Wait!" Kohr held up a stopping hand. "There's a hidden passage here in the schematics. Right after the second door down."

"Which way?"

"To the right."

Ben opened the door all the way and leaned out to look. "There's no door. Just a tapestry." His eyes narrowed. "You think… behind the tapestry?"

Kohr nodded. "It should take them right up to the fourth floor, just one below the kids."

Elias moved out into the corridor, brushing past Ben. He motioned for Valin to follow. "Wish us luck," he said to Ben.

Ben gave him a wry grin. "No such thing," he answered, clapping Elias on the back. Valin and Elias hurried down the hall, pulled back the tapestry, and disappeared from sight.

"Right," Ben said, turning to look at the rest of his team. "Time to do some distracting."

.

* * *

.

Arden watched the steady fall of rain from inside Myri Antilles's ship, waiting for the signal. It was the most maddening thing she'd ever done, just waiting in the cramped cockpit, listening to Myri hum the same tune over and over again. It wasn't the older woman's fault; Arden had been known to sing a song or two while waiting for the captain and his team to return from a job. But that was back when the captain was a captain, not Ben-wanted-in-almost-every-known-sector-Skywalker. Back when their jobs involved things like theft and smuggling, not the heroic rescue of Jedi children from the heart of Sith space.

Arden chewed the edge of a thumbnail as she began to pace back and forth behind Myri's chair. There wasn't much room for pacing, but she managed to do it, her gaze still locked on the rain and on the outline of the _Daybreak_ just a few kilometers away.

Myri stopped humming and perked up, tilting her cap back on her head. She swiveled toward the radar and let out a breath that sounded more like a hiss. "That's not good," she murmured, flipping a few switches near the radar.

"What is it?" Arden asked, leaning over Myri's shoulder. A large mass of light was moving toward the spot where the _Daybreak _was hidden.

"Wanna know how this ship got the name _Last Call_?" Myri dimmed the cabin lights and pressed a few more buttons. Beneath them, the engines started to hum.

Arden backed up from the chair and wondered if she should mention that she hadn't known what the ship was called until this very moment. "I'm guessing I'm about to find out," she muttered.

Myri tossed a wink and a grin over her shoulder so casually, she might have been reporting the weather. "Get on those guns, girly. Things are about to get crazy."

.

* * *

.

The great entryway looked almost exactly as it had the last time Anakin saw it, minus the shattered and scorched remains of dozens of combat and assassin droids. He thought of Obi-Wan, of how they had charged into the mansion without backup and taken down its security forces without suffering a single injury. He remembered how easy it had been, how powerful he felt as he sliced through the droids. Like nothing could stop him.

Anakin jerked his arms to the side and spun, taking down a soldier who had dared to come too close. He and the other Jedi had returned to the main hall and assumed a defensive position outside the side corridor, but as more soldiers filled the hall, they found themselves being pulled away from each other. Allana, Kohr, and Ames were closest to the corridor, trying to keep the soldiers from following after Elias and Valin. Anakin and Ben had moved toward the center of the room, picking off soldiers who strayed too far from the squad.

As another Sith trooper crumpled at his feet, Anakin felt overwhelming relief. Gone was the foreboding that had plagued him since his arrival in this time. Gone was the fear and the hesitance. He felt strong again, like his old self, only better. Every movement of the enemy was so clear, so precisely mapped out in the Force. It didn't matter if they had to fight a hundred soldiers. Force-sensitive or not, they were no match for him. A whisper of thought swirled around his brain, reminding him that _this _was what he was born to do. Even though he knew that the Chosen One was meant to bring balance – not war – he couldn't help feeling at home right here, a surging vehicle of destruction.

Anakin and Ben were back-to-back now, turning in a slow circle as they continued to carve a deadly path through the soldiers.

"Getting tired?" Ben called over his shoulder.

Anakin flung out his free hand and sent two soldiers flying through the air. "I'm just warming up. You?"

Ben muttered something under his breath and deflected a blaster bolt straight into a soldier's chest. The man's armor absorbed it, but he was knocked off his feet. Ben let out a frustrated grunt and nodded at Anakin. The two men switched positions without missing a beat.

"You know," Ben said casually as he cleaved through the end of a blaster and elbowed the owner hard in the temple. "I really wish these guys would take turns."

Anakin smirked. "Guess we oughtta teach them some manners." He whipped around to block several laser blasts that were aimed at Ben.

His grandson eyed the would-be assassins, now lying dead on the floor. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." A warning spiked across Anakin's senses, and he jerked his head around, looking for the source. Ben followed suit, and they both turned in time to see a giant stone come crashing down from the ceiling. Allana, Kohr, and Ames threw themselves out of its way, and then they were obscured by a massive cloud of dust and debris.

A new sound echoed across the suddenly quiet chamber: the deep, ominous hum of multiple lightsabers activating. At first Anakin could only see a few red blades, but as the dust settled, he saw six Sith standing across the room, flanked by another dozen soldiers in black armor. By the feel of her, the blonde woman at the center of the group was the most powerful, although the muscular, dark-haired boy next to her wasn't too far off. Anakin felt Ben tense up for a moment.

"Kill them all!" the blonde woman shouted. She surged forward, the others fanning out behind her. Anakin glanced over his shoulder, still unable to see where Allana and her companions had gone. Half of the newly arrived troopers were sprinting toward the rubble from the stone; the blonde Sith and two lightsaber-wielding Twi'leks were with them.

Anakin tore his gaze away from the leader of the Sith and turned to meet the dark-haired boy, who had already outrun his backup. Anakin and Ben stepped in unison, raising their sabers to deflect the boy-Sith's attack. He was as powerful as Anakin had guessed, but that hardly meant he was a match for two Skywalkers. Ben battered the boy's blade with his own while Anakin slipped past his defenses and cut him across the abdomen. The only thing that prevented Anakin from finishing the job was the arrival of two other Sith.

These two, a dark-skinned human male and a humanoid of a species Anakin didn't recognize, were substantially weaker than the boy, but they were quick. Their clumsy lightsaber work, in combination with the Sith soldiers who were firing from a few meters away, was just enough to keep both Anakin and Ben busy.

There was another rumble, and the entire chamber quaked as a second stone dislodged from the ceiling. Across the room, Anakin saw the blonde Sith draw her hand in a broad, sweeping motion. Ames shoved Allana out of the way, and several of the soldiers went down, too, as the stone crashed to the floor. The blonde Sith leapt over the debris and went after Allana and Ames. Kohr was nowhere to be seen.

A blaster bolt singed Anakin's tunic; he pivoted just enough to deflect a second bolt, which went through his attacker's forehead.

"Allana!" Ames shouted over the noise. "Get out of here!"

Anakin spun around in time to see Allana duck into one of the other corridors, one that led back into the interior of the mansion. He moved to go after her, heedless of his own safety as he turned into the line of fire of seven blasters. He batted their shots aside as though they were mere nuisances; nothing mattered if he couldn't get to his granddaughter. He carved a path through the soldiers, unaware of whether they lived or died as they fell under his blade.

He was halfway to the corridor when another dozen soldiers came pouring out of it. Anakin leapt out of the way of a dozen streams of blaster fire, rolling to the side. He took in the situation, scanning the room quickly as he ducked and weaved through enemy fire. Ben was still fending off one of the Sith and several troopers on the opposite side of the room, and Ames was locked in battle with the blonde Sith, struggling to hold her off.

Anakin muttered a few Huttese obscenities and glanced one last time at the hallway Allana had disappeared into before vaulting across the room to help Ames.

.

* * *

.

Allana ran into the side hallway and took the second door on the left, a plain but solid wood door that – like so many others in the great house – swung open on hinges. She sensed at least a dozen people running down the hall in her direction, so she stepped across the threshold and closed the door behind her.

Instead of a room, she found herself facing the bottom of a narrow, spiraling staircase. It was dimly lit; she wondered if the power source was faulty or if the place had just taken too much abuse over the centuries. Allana took a few steps up the staircase, pausing for a moment to listen for the soldiers on the other side of the door. She didn't sense anyone above her, so she kept climbing until she came to another wooden door.

As she pushed open the door, she noticed that it was much more ornate, with roses carved into it. In some places she could see remnants of the same crimson and cream paint that decorated the entry hall. The room before her was large and empty, with an elaborate crystal chandelier dominating the ceiling. From its relative lack of grandeur, Allana determined that the stairwell she'd ascended was most likely a servant's passage and that this imposing room might have been a dining hall or a ballroom at one time.

Allana took another step into the room, and as she did so, she noticed that the chandelier was the only part of the room that was intact. All along the walls, paintings had been pockmarked by blaster fire, and the delicate wooden roses in the molding had received similar treatment. There were even bloodstains in the thick carpet.

Why hadn't she listened to Ben? Why hadn't she stayed on the ship with Syal? Now Kohr was bleeding out on the floor and Geridan was fighting that big Sith woman on his own. Allana reached up with both hands and grasped the end of her braid, running her fingers over its dusty length. She should go back. She couldn't leave her friends to die.

A soft thumping sound caught her attention, and Allana realized she was not alone. She stared across the room at a pair of grand doors that had opened, revealing a solitary figure.

He was a pale, dark-haired human, and he tapped the hilt of his lightsaber against his thigh as he approached her. Like the steady tick of a chrono, he continued tapping, continued walking toward her. Behind her, the door to the servants' passage slammed shut. Allana grabbed her lightsaber off her belt and activated it. As the newcomer stepped into the light, recognition hit her.

She remembered Ben telling her about this one and his brother, twin Jedi younglings kidnapped years ago and corrupted by the Sith. She'd been forced to memorize the holos. Her opponent had to be Darth Festus, the shorter of the two. He was small but wiry, with a manic look about him that chilled her to her core. His eyes seemed to glow in the dim light, irises edged in flame. As she raised her lightsaber in front of her, he drew up short, staring at her sideways, almost lazily.

"If it isn't the little princess," Darth Festus said, tilting his head to examine her. He might have been handsome but for the sick smile creeping onto his face. "Hello, Allana. It's been a long time."

Allana swallowed hard and readjusted her grip on her lightsaber. How did he know her? Had they met when she was younger? She had the bizarre mental image of the Sith Lord bouncing a redheaded child on his knee. She banished it quickly.

"Stay back," she warned, trying not to wince at how young and feeble she sounded. The Sith Lord's smile grew wider and, if possible, more disturbed.

"Now, Princess, is that any way to treat an old friend of the family?"

Allana shook her head, holding her lightsaber up a little higher. "Not _my_ friend."

He stopped a few meters away from her and hung his head as though hurt. And then he chuckled. He actually _chuckled_. She was still trying to wrap her head around the idea of a Sith Lord chuckling when he charged forward, igniting his lightsaber and diving at her in one smooth, lightning-fast motion. Allana dropped her guard and jumped out of the way. Before she could fully recover, he was upon her, beating her backward with his blood red saber.

"Would you like to hear a story?" Festus swung hard, and Allana parried. "It's about a little Jedi boy and a little Jedi princess." His voice took on an eerie sing-song quality as he flew at her with a series of frenzied strikes, each one coming closer and closer to her neck. "They had all kinds of fun together."

Allana stumbled a little as she tried to put distance between herself and the Sith. He was there in an instant, catching her lightsaber blade with his in a quick motion that knocked her weapon from her hands. He wrapped his right arm around her, saber still in hand, and held her close.

"But one day," Festus continued, "the Jedi left the boy to die, and the princess went on living a happy little life with her master, the worst traitor of them all."

Allana tried to shake her head. "You're crazy," she said, out of breath but still fighting his grip on her.

There was a vicious gleam in his eyes as he smiled and said, "Didn't your cousin ever tell you it's the crazy ones you have to look out for?"

Festus smashed his fist across the side of her head, sending her to the ground. The world slanted around her as she crawled away from her attacker, grappling for her lightsaber. A strong hand grabbed her by the collar and lifted her into the air. The next she knew, she'd been pinned up against a wall, legs dangling. Festus pressed his body against hers and raised his saber so she could see the hazy glow of its red blade.

"You shouldn't fight me so much," he hissed. Her skin crawled as she felt his lips graze her neck. For a moment she thought he might sink his teeth into her flesh. Allana closed her eyes tight and silently recited one of the lullabies her mother used to sing to her, an old spell of the Singing Mountain Clan. The Force pulsed through her like blood.

Festus tightened his hand around her throat. Allana's eyelids fluttered open, and her vision began to return. She slammed her knee into the Sith's groin, and he dropped her with a furious growl. Allana tumbled to the floor and gasped for breath as she tried to get up and run. She had lost her lightsaber somewhere… Ben would kill her if she didn't find it…

She had just gotten to her feet when she felt something smash into her, bringing her down by the knees. She crashed to the floor again, stretching her hands out to protect her face. Dazed, she looked over her shoulder to see Festus, his arms wrapped around her legs. He was crawling on top of her, his eyes like fire.

"Ben!" she screamed, trying in a panic to kick the Sith Lord off of her. "Ben! Geridan!"

Festus was on her back, pinning her arms down. He grabbed her by the hair and wrenched her head off the floor. "Shut up!" he shrieked in her ear. "Shut up! Shh… no one's coming, Allana, now hold still."

Festus activated his lightsaber again, holding it a hair's breadth from her neck. He shoved her face into the grimy rug and dug his knee into her back. All she could see out of the corner of her eye was the red-white core of his saber.

_Help me, please…_

Allana held as still as she could and squeezed her eyes shut. She hoped the Sith would be quick.

The weight on her back lifted suddenly, and Allana heard a crash across the room. She looked up and saw a tall figure standing over her, right arm extended. The Force was ferocious and alive around him, sparking like electricity, like a lightning storm in her mind's eye. It burned so intensely, she thought it might consume her. She stared hard at the person in the center of this maelstrom, waiting for her vision to come back into focus.

And then, hazy recognition.

"Anakin?"

Her rescuer didn't look at her, though, and she followed his gaze to the opposite side of the room where Festus was suspended midair, clawing desperately at his throat. Anakin's thumb and forefinger pinched the air, the distance between them closing. As Festus's strangled cries grew softer, Allana realized what was happening.

"Don't!" She pulled herself onto her hands and knees and sucked in several short breaths. "Not like this!"

Anakin didn't seem to hear her, however, and for the first time Allana really felt the oozing weight of Vjun, the dark heaviness that choked the atmosphere. She wondered why it had come on her so suddenly, and looking up at Anakin, she knew she already had her answer.

"Please, stop!" Tears slid down her cheeks as she reached out to Anakin. Why was she crying? Shouldn't she be glad that he was killing the Sith, that he was forcing the life out of him? "Anakin, please!"

He jerked his head back as if breaking out of a trance. Festus was dumped unceremoniously to the ground where he lay for the moment, a moaning, pathetic heap. Anakin lowered his hand and looked down at Allana. She breathed a sigh of relief as he scooped her up in his arms and retrieved her lightsaber.

"Thank you," she murmured, her head resting against his chest.

"No, don't fall asleep," Anakin said, nudging her head with his shoulder. "You have to stay awake. Come on, we'll find Ben."

She struggled to keep her eyes open as he carried her from hallway to hallway, searching for the others. He was so strong; she knew she could just go to sleep in his arms and be safe. She remembered feeling like this a long time ago, with her father.

Anakin made a disgruntled noise. "You should have let me do it."

Allana closed her eyes and smiled faintly. "No, I shouldn't have." She squeezed her arms around his neck. "You'll thank me later."

She lost track of how long they wandered the hallways of the great house, looking for another way back to the others. Part of her didn't want to find them. Part of her wanted to stay.

"Here," Anakin said, lowering her until her feet touched the ground. "You need to walk now, okay?"

The room seemed to spin for a moment as Allana moaned and pressed a hand to her forehead. It was pounding like crazy. "Where's my lightsaber?"

He slapped it against her palm. "Can you walk?"

"Sure," she answered, blinking her eyes several times to regain focus.

"Good, because things are about to get nasty."

Allana snapped her head up to look at him, ignoring the pain. "What?"

Anakin ignited his saber. "The others are just up ahead, and I think they need help."

She frowned at him. "You know, when you rescue someone, you're supposed to lead them _away_ from danger."

Anakin grinned and put a hand on her shoulder, drawing her close. "Stay right behind me, okay?"

Allana felt something tighten in her chest. "Okay." She reached out and grabbed his arm. "Anakin?"

"Yes?"

She looked up into his eyes; in them she saw fear and sorrow, but also hope and love, and for some strange reason, that gave her strength.

"I truly am glad to have met you."

He smiled, then leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "Me, too, Allana. Truly."

.

* * *

.

Ben wiped the sweat from his brow as he watched the surviving Sith soldiers flee from the great entry hall. There was no use going after them. As soon as Elias and Valin rescued the children, they had to be able to make a quick exit. And now that archway that led back to the caves had collapsed, the quickest exit was right through the giant front doors of Château Malreaux.

Ben crossed the room to get to Ames, stepping over bodies as he did so. The boy was kneeling next to a lifeless-looking Kohr. Ames had torn a strip of cloth from his shirt and wrapped it around his friend's head. The cloth was already soaked with blood.

Ben knelt beside Ames and tore off some cloth from the bottom of his own shirt. From here he could see that Kohr was still breathing. "Here," he said gently, moving Ames's hands so he could dress the wound. As he tied off the makeshift bandage, he glanced sidelong at Ames. "How are _you_ holding up?"

Ames's eyes wandered over to the headless body of the blonde Sith, Darth Misra. "I'm okay," he muttered.

Ben raised one eyebrow at him. "You sure?"

Ames shook his head. "She was going to kill me. I was as good as dead."

"You fought a Sith Lord, Ames." Ben gripped his shoulder and gave him a reassuring shake. "Not many Jedi have done that and lived to tell about it."

This time Ames nodded, but Ben could see he was still a bit shell-shocked. Watching one person decapitate another could have that effect.

Speaking of Anakin, where was he anyway? Ben had lost track of him during the battle, not long after Allana disappeared.

_Allana._

Ben tightened his grip on Ames's shoulder. "What happened to Allana?"

Ames seemed to snap out of his stupor a little. "They were closing in on us… I told her to run." He looked toward one of the interior corridors, but said nothing else.

Ben was about to respond when he felt a familiar presence approaching. He touched Kohr lightly on the forehead, then stood and unclipped his lightsaber from his belt.

"Ames…"

"I feel it, too." The boy looked down at Kohr, uncertain. "Should we move him?"

Ben eyed the front entrance and wondered how much longer Elias and Valin would be. "Move him closer to the front doors. We'll have to cover him until the others get here."

Ames carried Kohr across the room while Ben activated his saber and watched for signs of the Sith. He should have known Darth Dominius would be here. Darth Misra was, after all, one of his lieutenants and a devoted servant. Wherever she was, her master was never far. He wondered if Dominius would be upset about her death. Falleen were so slow to anger, and despite being a Sith Lord, he was unusually level-headed.

The soldiers appeared first, row after row of them, at least as many as before, if not more. They filed into the room, weapons raised, forming a half-circle around the Jedi. Ben was acutely aware of the danger he was in. Kohr was close to death, and Ames was too worried about Kohr and Allana and nearly being killed by Misra to focus on the moment. Ben was alone.

What was it his dad used to say? _"Not alone, Ben. Never alone."_

_That's right, Dad. A Jedi who has the Force is never alone._

_But some more back-up would sure be nice._

The rows of soldiers parted to reveal a trio of Sith Lords. On the left was Darth Ferrus, who Anakin had cut across the abdomen in the earlier battle. Someone had patched the boy up, but he was hunched over a little and breathing funny. For a brief moment, Ben pitied him.

The Sith on the right he recognized as Darth Raze, one of the more hot-headed members of Krayt's order. He looked mad as hell and eager to murder someone.

"Where is he?" Raze shouted.

"Patience, Lord Raze." Darth Dominius stood in the middle, and even though he was addressing Raze, his eyes were on Ben. The Falleen's skin was its usual cool green color, and a devious smile was perched on his lips.

"I am tired of waiting!" Raze passed his lightsaber from one hand to the other. "I want the man who gave me _this_." He held up his right hand, which was made of a shiny metal, and pointed it at Ben. "I know he is here, Jedi! Where is he?"

Ben looked away from Dominius and shook his head. "It's your mansion. You tell _me_ where he is."

"I'm right here."

Even though he hadn't shouted, Anakin's voice filled the hall. Ben turned toward the sound of it and saw Anakin standing behind him, Allana at his side.

Ben expected Raze to utter some more threats; instead, the Sith Lord sprang forward, disregarding Dominius's command to stand his ground. The soldiers looked around as if unsure whether they should engage. Dominius held up a hand to stay the troops. He seemed almost amused by Raze's lack of restraint.

Anakin pushed Allana behind him as Raze vaulted across the room, snarling and grunting unintelligibly. Ben made a move in their direction, but a barrage of blasterfire made him reconsider. While Ben was repelling fire, Darth Ferrus appeared at his elbow, moving much faster than his wound should have allowed. Ben ducked as the boy sliced his lightsaber horizontally through the space where his head had been. He brought his weapon up to block and caught sight of Dominius standing back with about fifteen soldiers. The Sith Lord was smiling and shaking his head slowly. As though this were all just a game to him.

Across the room, Anakin and Raze were locked in battle. Ben caught a brief glimpse of it every few seconds, but from what he could see, Allana was blocking the soldiers while Anakin had Raze backed up against a wall. There was no doubt that his grandfather was winning.

"Ben!"

Ben sidestepped another thrust from Ferrus, and Ames appeared out of nowhere, grabbing Ferrus by the arm and knocking his saber from his grasp. Ben could feel the anger coming off of Ames in waves. They had known each other as younglings, Ames and Ferrus. This was personal.

"Nice work, kid!" Ben deflected several blaster bolts back at their owners. A few of them went down, but too many remained standing. Ben grunted his displeasure and was about to say something to Ames when he noticed the kid wasn't even listening. He was too busy punching Ferrus repeatedly in the head. The Sith fell down hard, unconscious. Ames raised his lightsaber and aimed the blade at his enemy's heart.

"Ames!"

Ben threw out his hands and used the Force to shove Ferrus out of the way; Ames's lightsaber went through the stone floor. Before Ames could protest, a blaster bolt ripped through his shoulder. Ben lunged forward to catch the boy; lasers singed his shirt as the two of them went down.

"I've got you, kid," he whispered, blindly raising his lightsaber in front of him.

"And I've got you," another voice replied. Ben looked up, past the blade of his own saber, into the eyes of Darth Dominius, who was standing just meters away, weapon ignited. His soldiers had formed a circle around them. The Falleen Sith gestured with his lightsaber for Ben to stand. Ben laid Ames down on the stone floor and slowly rose to his feet. He could still hear the sound of blasters as Anakin and Allana continued to fight their way through the soldiers. He hoped they wouldn't try anything idiotic, like trying to save his life. It would really tick him off if they wasted the precious time he was buying for them here.

Ben took a deep breath and met the Sith's eerie yellow stare. "Dominius."

The Falleen nodded curtly. "Skywalker. By now you realize you're pitiful attempt at a rescue has failed."

Ben tried to reach out for Elias and Valin, but it was too chaotic. The Force fed him nothing but destruction. He glanced around the circle, gauging the strength of the soldiers. "You haven't killed me yet."

"I soon shall. Have you finally decided to stop running from me?"

Ben gestured wide with his free hand. "I'm here, aren't I?"

Dominius licked his lips and brandished his lightsaber. "Indeed. I've been looking forward to this day."

Ben cocked his head to one side and grinned. "You want me? You got me." He raised his saber. "Let's make this quick."

.


End file.
